New Kitsune
by cfore
Summary: A sort of time-travel fic with a twist. Naruto woke up in a familiar wet cell. He rubbed his aching forehead with his giant paws. Wait, paws? He stared at his reflection, stunned. No way!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. New Kitsune is just a fanfic and nothing more.

Naruto stared blankly out from the prison cell, muzzle resting on his paws while he swished his tails in the water, making sloshing sounds, partly out of pure boredom partly because he couldn't get rid of a growing itch back there. His tepid fur was beginning to get to him.

Inwardly he mused. _I guess now I know why Kyubi was always in a foul mood._

For once, Naruto was glad for the many hours spent meditating on his sage training. It helped with his patience. Otherwise, he was skeptical about what sort of trouble he would've gotten his host. He had discovered, somewhat unsettlingly on his first day here, that the massive imposing iron gates of his cell for some reason did nothing to hold him back.

He sighed morosely at his predicament as he recalled the events that led to this.

* * *

"DOBE! Look out!"

Naruto barely managed to avoid a beast ball from one of the many tailed beasts surrounding Madara and narrowly missing being crushed by a giant appendage, which he thinks, came from the Rokubi. He'll have to remember to thank the Teme after this. Catching his breath and recovering his balance, his sage-mode enhanced toad eyes looked grim as he surveyed the situation.

* * *

He had fought Sasuke right after mastering his Rasengan in Jinchuriki form. The battle would have been rather one-sided had it not been Itachi's parting gift to Naruto, which had nullified most of Sasuke's implanted Mangekyo abilities.

So after a long chat comprising of a lot of punches, kicks and earth shattering jutsu later, he had finally managed to fulfill his promise of a lifetime to his team mate and turned his stubborn friend to their cause.

The two had lain on the devastated countryside of Frost, exhausted and covered in numerous injuries, but to Naruto, it had been worth it. All it matters was that Sasuke finally came back to his senses. They'll deal with the details later.

Then when Madara had shown up and decided to join the fray.

Naruto and Sasuke had only moments to recover from their fight when the ancient Uchiha decided that he had played along enough. Between the two, they had barely managed to outmaneuver Madara and fatally wounded him. It was supposed to end there.

But they didn't know he could use Izanagi. One accursed forbidden technique later, Madara was standing before them again, free of wounds and fatigue apart from a closed off sharingan. Which he soon replaced with one of the many Sharingan he had gathered. They had been too exhausted to continue when Kakashi, Killer Bee and some members of the Shinobi alliance army arrived as reinforcement. Their despair had turned into elation. But that was also when things started going down hill.

Madara, in a last gambit had unleashed all seven captured bijuu onto the battlefield.

The rest of the Shinobi were forced to just trying to stay alive and not be trampled. Even the Raikage, A was called to the frontline to help deal with the beasts. Killer Bee himself was tied down in a battle with the Nanabi, Gobi and Yonbi.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he felt the last dregs of his senchakra running out. Steeling himself, he decided to switch back to Jinchuriki-mode before he had gotten too low in chakra to make full use of it.

Kakashi and Sasuke had jumped in again trying to buy some time for him to come up with a plan. Naruto quickly gathered the required chakra for a beast ball Rasengan. Hurling it with all his might, he managed almost nail Madara in the back when he slipped away to the far side of the clearing using his Space-Time Migration technique.

Naruto cursed inwardly. _Damnit, I can't do Rasenshuriken and the Beast Ball isn't fast enough in this form. If only I had time to master the beast-form…_

'**NARUTO! ' **A loud snarl barely containing its anger broke him out from his thoughts. He was about to look for the person who called him out when he realised it was Kyubi talking. _'What it is it, Kyubi?'_

'_**While I still do not acknowledge you as my Jinchuriki, I shall concede just this once. I shall allow you to take on my form and in return, you WILL CRUSH Uchiha Madara until he is nothing but a bloody smear.'**_

Naruto was stunned at the fox's sudden willingness to lend his power. He quickly felt the fox for any deceit and found none save all its hatred directed at Madara. Not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, he focused as Killer Bee had taught him and transformed.

It was exhilarating as he felt for the first time, his full junchuriki form. He now understood why Bee enjoyed using his eight-tailed form somewhat recklessly whenever he has the chance despite its risks and blatantly ignoring Raikage's order. Then again, the ox and Bee were in good terms.

With a few swish of his tails, he managed to send the Ichibi, Sanbi and Rokubi flying. _AWESOME!_ It was then he realised again how much power the Kyubi held and it was sealed inside him for all these years. He thought he felt a smug snicker from the fox. Perhaps this might be enough to finally put an end to this war. Quickly, he dashed towards where Kakashi, Sasuke and Madara were fighting, gathering chakra for a fully powered beast ball.

Noticing Naruto's approach, Madara used his Space-Time Migration to move out of the way again and only to fail. At first, he looked accusingly at Kakashi who seemed as puzzled as he was, then he saw Sasuke's smirk at his outrage and disbelief. His right eye was closed. _'Izanagi? Since WHEN?'_ Then he realised. Orochimaru and Kabuto. He cursed their names as the fast approaching pitch black and red tinted ball neared and he realised there was no countering this one.

Madara screamed as the fully powered beast ball from Naruto smashed into him, blasting away the entire mountain behind him and beyond. Naruto's Kyubi form grinned satisfactory as he saw Madara's burnt and smoking form at the centre of the crater, his mask broken off. Despite his hatred for the man, he had to admit Madara was pretty impressive to have his body still this much intact after taking a full burnt from the beast ball. The grin faded when He saw Madara begin to move again. Fearing another Izanagi, he charged up another beast ball with his tails.

"Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke! NOW!"

Apparently, the two had been thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, the Izanagi as well as the previous fight took out too much from Sasuke and he couldn't get there in time. Kakashi decided to chance moment to use Kamui directly on Madara's eye.

At the same time, as Madara was about to heal himself with Izanagi, he felt Kakashi's Kamui on his eyes. He was about to Migrate out of the way when he felt his delayed Migration technique from Sasuke's Izanagi kicked in, trapping him in place with 3 space-time techniques, as well as Naruto's second beast ball fast approaching.

Realizing he was fast running out of option, he summoned all the surrounding Bijuu as a last ditch effort to block Naruto's beast ball.

To the surrounding observers, it was as if the world had slowed down as they held their breath and watch as the Bijuu dashed towards Madara, shinobi from each side of the conflict dreading for the worse or hoping for the best.

It ended in a blinding flash when the ball exploded.

The Shinobi alliance cheered, as the Bijuu were a few steps too late from blocking the beast ball.

Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke were about to let out a relieved breath when they heard an almost inhuman scream. They saw Madara. Or at least, what was left of him. It was a grotesque sight, a battered and bloody body with an empty right eye socket bleeding profusely while the Rinnegan seemed to roll around in his left. He let out another inhuman screech that sounded like "FOOLS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

Naruto and Killer Bee had started on another beast ball and Kakashi had Raikiri up while Sasuke prepared his Enton when they hear Madara screamed again and his flesh was ripped from his torso and sucked into a gaping hole where his Sharingan was.

The stunned shinobi watched as the legendary Uchiha's body was fast being ripped apart and it was being sucked into a fast growing hole that was his eye. Without warning, the hole grew bigger at an exponential rate and its pulling force increased proportionately. The surrounding bijuu were quickly being sucked into the gaping hole.

A had grabbed both Sasuke and Kakashi and pulled them away from the crater the moment Madara started screaming.

* * *

'**As much as I had enjoyed seeing his flesh being rended up close, this would be the end of us if you don't GET OUT OF HERE YOU FOOL!'** Kyubi ranted inside of Naruto's mindscape. Despite his attempt to sound condescending, Naruto felt a lot of fear from Kyubi. That, in his book was not a good thing.

Naruto was struggling to break free from the pull. Even with Kyubi's claws and tails, he was being pulled towards it. That was when the ground beneath his claws gave and crumbled. He cried out in dismay as he was his massive body was lifted off the ground.

"**GOTCHA NINE! RIGHT ON TIME! JUST HOLD ON TIGHT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!"**

Naruto never thought he'd be glad to hear those lame rap when half of Bee's tentacle held fast onto him while the other half were firmly anchored around an entire mountain. Wasting no time, he gripped firmly around Hachibi's tentacles, hanging on for dear life, hoping the rift or whatever it is would come to an end soon while he tried to pull himself towards Bee.

Unfortunately, it did the exact opposite; the wind around them starts tearing the ground apart. Naruto's giant fox form was being suspended in mid-air with only Bee holding fast onto Naruto. Hachibi's tentacles strained to hold Naruto in place as half of his other tentacles pretty much gouged deep gashes on the mountain Bee hung onto. Naruto winced as he heard tissue tearing as Hachibi's tentacles were gradually being torn from the stress.

"**MOTHA FUCKA!"**

A final snap and Naruto found himself still entangled with Hachibi's tentacles flying straight towards the rift. He wasn't sure if that was Kyubi or himself as he let out a frightened whine.

Througout the chaotic tumult, he thought he heard his friends.

"Iiya, Naruto!"

"IZANAGI!"

* * *

It had been weeks now since Naruto woke up in this place. He had been confused at first, followed by a massive freak out session when he found he was stuck in his beast-form, but after the first day, he felt strangely calm.

He understood that somehow, he had become the replacement of Kyubi. He was in for more surprise when he seemed to 'remember' many things. Like how to 'see' through his host. He had filed it away as some sort of instinct unique to the bijuu.

From what he had gathered so far, he had ended up in some alternate dimension of his five year-old-self where he had been born a girl. Much to his chagrin his host had looked hauntingly like her Oiroke no jutsu, a smaller and scrawnier version with shorter hair.

Through his observations, he had noticed some other differences between him and her aside from gender. She had darker blue eyes instead of his sky blue ones and that her whisker marks were thicker and more prominent. They looked almost like tiger stripes. She showed a little bit more respect to the old man based on what little interaction between the two he had witnessed. This Naruto was also so much more endearing where he had been brash.

In a way, he was relieved that little Naruto was still five year old, hence still undeveloped. Though he had little doubt that given time, she would probably mature into a fine woman.

Thinking about his host he sighed again. Interestingly he had learned, bijuu's form takes on the gender of their hosts, and possibly some other traits of their host. Just like how some of the host might take on certain traits of their bijuu. Like Yagura with his scarred eye, Roshi with his excessive body hair, Gaara with his tanuki-like eye rings, Kushina with her hair splitting into nine 'tails' when angry. And when he first calmed down enough to examine himself, he had thought that the reason Kyubi was so reluctant to let him use his form was because it was a she.

He was glad that to learn that there was no need for biological functions while sealed. Of course, that made him puzzle over the need for gender. Was it something to do with the host's sub-consciousness perhaps? Thinking about it made his head hurt so he decided to file it away at the back of his head. Deep behind shelves and shelves of ramen.

That thought also made Naruto uncomfortable. There would come a day when little Naruto would meet her tenant, and it would be so messed up on so many levels.

A sudden influx of stress and growing fear from little Naruto jolted him out of his train of thoughts. As curious as he was concerned at what would cause his host this much distress, he linked himself to his counterpart.

* * *

**October 11****th****, 1:59am. **

Inside a small apartment, Little Naruto had been lying as still as a log in bed, cuddled under a thin blanket for the past six hours. To her, it had been the longest day of her life, as each second seemed to pass by agonizingly slow. The first few hours had been the hardest as she listened to the fanfare outside.

The delighted cries of children with their family, laughter of friends, delicious wafts of festival treats, followed by the sound of fireworks and smell of smoke and gunpowder. All of which made her heart pang and her stomach growl. Jiji had apologetically told her earlier that morning that he would be working late into the night. Although he had given Naruto a small gama plushy and wished her Happy birthday, caressed her head lovingly and asked her to be a good girl and stay out of trouble today.

Despite wanting badly to simply doze off blissfully, she had forced herself to stay awake, ears straining to pick any stray sound while unconsciously filtering out the hypnotic ticking of the clock and her faulty kitchen sink.

**2:00a.m. **

Naruto held her breath for the next few seconds. Dreading and hoping at the same time, it was pure torture. Ten seconds passed. She exhaled. Maybe her fears were unfounded. They must have been as tired as she was now she thought. She allowed herself a soft smile at her own silliness and also being glad to finally able to sleep. She hugged her gama plushy tightly. _I hope Jiji had finished his work by now. _

**2:12a.m.**

Naruto cringed when she heard loud banging and clamour of the mob coming from her door. Her eyes opened wide in fear. Why hadn't she heard anything?

She scampered out of her bed at speeds that would impress a Jonin to the kitchen and clambered fearfully onto the kitchen counter, nearly giving herself a cramp in the process. Pulling up the stool after her, she pushed up the wood fiber panel of the dropped ceiling, releasing a short length of frayed rope, heavily knotted at the end to give it more weight.

The banging and noise at her door grew more violent. Out of fear and panic, she slipped from the stool but fortunately managed to grab hold of the short end of the rope.

Naruto whimpered fearfully as she climbed into the space between the ceiling and the roof, closing the board behind her seconds just before the door gave at the hinge. Allowing herself a second, her pupils became slightly more elongated as her vision got used to the darkness.

As silently as possible, she crawled on her belly across the fiber wood with the rope as her guide. Mucus filled her nose as the sharp odour of rat dropping and mould greeted her sensitive nose. _Just a little bit further._ She increased her pace as she neared the stack of boxes she had prepared.

"There! Up in the ceiling!"

_No!_ Desperately, she climbed onto the boxes and pushed through the roof just as the mob started stabbing up at the wood fiber with whatever implements they had.

Naruto shielded her sensitive eyes. Even the full moon seemed to glare at her. Wasting no time recovering, she climbed blindly onto the roof, only to slip and fall. Her derrière slid painfully down the tiles. Her foot caught in the rain gutter, the moment flipping her over, causing her to crash fall face first into a tree. Luckily the branches slowed her fall, but not without badly scratching her in the process.

But she soon learnt that Fate and Lady Luck were cruel mistresses. Unfortunately, her descent had caused enough noise for someone to notice. "Down there! She's getting away!"

Naruto hadn't really heard the exact words, but the shout alone was enough motivation for her to get up and start running. She knew from experience, despite her 3-storey head start, they would catch up to her soon. A fearful sob escaped her lips.

She ran as fast as her small bleeding limbs could carry her. She ran out of fear for her life.

* * *

To say **Naruto **was shocked would be an understatement. The moment he had connected to his host, the amount of hatred and resentment he picked up was massive, at least 20 different sources. And it was all directed at him, or rather his host. **"Run!"**

He was glad Naruto shared his sentiment, bolting from her bed at record speed. When she barely grabbed onto the small knot of a rope, a sinking feeling in his stomach told him this wasn't her first run in with a mob. Apparently, his gender wasn't the only thing that was different in this life.

As far as he could remember, the worst he had endured during his childhood was the severe ostracism from most of the villagers. Making him the attention-starved idiot he was today.

Still, to be that prepared either spoke of experiences which he didn't think he want to know of or that she had more potential as a ninja then he did at her age.

**Naruto** grimaced when she fell from the roof. That had got to hurt. The lights in his cell flickered slightly and the water seemed to start flowing. All throughout the mindscape, water began to trickle in. He decided that he didn't like this one bit at all. **Naruto** carefully flared his chakra out like he did with all his previous training with Bee, trying his best to stop or at least slow the flow of the water.

* * *

**2:21a.m.**

Her first thought was to get to the safety of her Jiji, instinctively she ran towards the Hokage tower. But that changed instantly when she smelt rather than saw few drunks loitering near the main street. She rather not chance running through them. She had learnt drunks on October 10th weren't her fans. Besides, she reasoned, at this time of the day, it would be a miracle if the guards would let her through.

Taking the left instead of right path, Naruto ran at the opposite direction of the village towards the gate. She took in a ragged breath and redoubled her efforts when she started to pick up the cries of the mobs again. Wiping off the tears from her eyes, she fixed her sight at the giant gates of Konoha. Gates to her, that seemed so close and yet so far out of reach.

* * *

A lone patrolling ANBU happened to chance upon the mob. He cursed inwardly when he saw the target of the mob. _Some people just never learn._ Performing a quick shunshin, he only hoped that he was fast enough.

* * *

**Naruto** was starting to get really worried. At the rate Naruto was running, she was not going to make it. He had been subtly pumping his chakra into her chakra pathways, hoping it would give her the boost she needed.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in his office, holding his pipe with one hand while rubbing his temple with the other as he read a report. _Chi-chan, why are you doing this? _Letting out a smoky sigh, he pulled another report and raised an eyebrow in surprise. _Interesting. Kumo wishes for an alliance? I must be getting tired if I'm that happy reading this._

Leaning back onto his chair, he rubbed his eyes tiredly. _I'm getting too old for this._ He looked up at the portrait of his successor as well as predecessor. "Minato… you really left behind a lot of things for me to pick up after you." He smiled fondly as he picked up a photo frame next to that of his own family. It was a picture of him and Naruto on their first visit to Ichiraku. _Heh heh, Kushina, she shared your love of ramen. Definitely take after you personality wise. _

He had felt guilty over not being able to spend her birthday with her today, but with the recent unrest within the village, his workload had been endless. It broke his heart to see her downcast eyes when he had told her he wouldn't be available for her. He had gotten her a frog plushy both as a birthday gift as well as apology. The way her eyes lit up instantly with happiness made his heart clench. How much segregation and abuse had she endured for such a simple gesture to mean so much?

He was interrupted when an ANBU entered his office. "Hokage-sama!" Noting the urgency in his tone, he gave the man his full attention. "It's Uzumaki-san. She's being chased by a mob of what I gathered to be forty odd people. Maybe more."

Hiruzen felt his heart break over the misplaced faith in his villagers. "You have my permission. Taka, Kame and Hebi, gather the required personnel. I want all involved detained. Go."

Four blurs shot out of his office. He took out his crystal ball and activated the Tomegane no jutsu. _Minato, Kushina. How would you two feel about your sacrifices if you two were to see this?_

* * *

**2.34a.m.**

Naruto was breathing hard now. She was getting dizzy and nauseous. Her lungs were aching. So were her hands and legs. Unbeknownst to her, she had started running unconsciously on all fours a few minutes ago. She has yet a quarter of the way towards the main gates.

"Look at that! Clear as the day, it's just like a beast!"

"I can't see why the Hokage insist on being so kind to it!"

"How could he not tell what it is?"

"He was bewitched! That's how!" "Their kinds are whores!"

"The only thing it deserves is death! I don't care how, just DIE!"

Naruto's tired mind barely registered what was being said, but on a subconscious level, each sentence pierced her soul like a burning blade. In her tired state, she failed to pick out a small squarish piece of rusted iron on the ground and her hand slammed right onto it.

Naruto let out a wounded scream and collapse onto the ground from sheer agony. The rusty steel jaw had bit deep into her forearm cruelly, almost to the bone. Tears blurred her vision as she saw the mob closing in on her out of the corner of her eyes.

"Who put that there?" A bewildered person asked

"I did!" Came a smug, almost proud voice.

"You idiot, Jiro! What if we had stepped on it?"

Naruto took a sobbing gasp. _They hate me that much huh? Enough to risk hurting themselves to get at me…_

She didn't even have the will or the energy to brace when a hoe swung downwards.

* * *

**Naruto **was panicking. The water gushed from the pipes and the light seemed to be flickering more frequent now. He was outraged when Naruto stumbled onto the gin trap. Despite having forgived them from the depths of his heart back in his own dimension, he felt so betrayed by their actions against his counterpart.

By instinct, he felt for the wounds around the forearm and cursed. The trap had bitten deep. It had cut through much of the muscle tissue, severed the median nerve and both the Radial and Ulnar arteries. Had it been anyone else, the limb would probably suffered permanent injury and possibly amputation not to mention excessive bleeding.

**Naruto **tried his best to restrict blood flow for now. There was little he could do with the rusty jaws of the trap still tightly clamped around the wound.

An angry snarl escaped his muzzle when the water suddenly burst forth from the sewers. His slitted pupils widened when he 'saw' the brutality of the villagers.

Damn those bastards! Forget being Hokage. There's no way he would put his life on the line for the people of this village. He cursed Madara for making his… well, her life hell. Cursed Kyubi… wait, wasn't he the fox now? Confused and upset, he set about trying clumsily to reverse any damage done to his precious host.

* * *

The ANBU was dismayed. The mob had stopped at roughly three clicks from the gate. It can only mean they failed to make it on time to prevent injuries. A missed window, he only prayed that they had not missed the last.

"On the Double!"

Two score of ANBU following his lead picked up their pace.

* * *

***Clack***

A black bo staff blocked all of the farming tools that were raining blows after blows down on the poor bruised and battered form lying on a small pool of blood.

The mob fell silent. They recognized the Hat and robe of their Hokage instantly.

Scores of ANBU appeared, surrounding the mob. "Hokage-sama. Forgive our tardine…" A raised hand from Hiruzen cut him off.

"I want all those involved here detained." A murmur of protest resounded through the mob. "SILENCE!" The crowd obeyed.

Swiftly, the ANBU secured them all with flex cuffs. Just as the ANBU were about to lead them away, Hiruzen held Kame back by the shoulder "Make sure to get a confession out of Jiro Asado on his use of banned traps on a fellow civilian. I want the necessary paperwork ready for legal procedures against this sorry lot first thing this morning."

Kame gave a curt nod before heading off with the group.

Hiruzen turned around. His heart ached at the sight of the small battered form and a mop of bloodstained blond hair. Hebi carefully removed the gin trap and bound the wound tight before helping lift her onto Taka before all three shunshin off to the Hospital. The last few ANBU started cleaning up the small pool of blood on the ground.

Turning to the ANBU that had alerted him to this mess. "I want you to patrol the area from here back to Naruto-chan's apartment. Make sure she'll be safe and that there's no one suspicious lurking around."

He nodded. "Hai." And he too disappeared into the night.

* * *

**Naruto** gave a relieved sigh and slumped exhaustedly when he finally managed to restore everything back to normal. Not that he actually feel physically tired. _This is still so weird._ With hindsight, he almost appreciated how much Kyubi had gone through with his recklessness towards his own physical well being. Almost.

Kyubi had his own agenda for keeping him alive after all.

**Naruto **jerked back up into a seated position when his peripheral vision caught sight of a small orange figure. _When did she get here?_ For reasons unknown to **Naruto** himself, the thought of her seeing him filled him with trepidation.

Holding back his breath, he prepared for the worse.

Silence.

Peeking out of an eye, he felt relief as well as plenty silly as he noticed little Naruto was lying unconscious in front of the cage. Despite the earlier events, he allowed himself a chuckle. _Unconscious within one's own consciousness. Man, this place is messed up._

**Naruto** lay down on his chin, for the first time, he felt the glaring differences between himself and his host as his reflection mirrored on the water's surface next to his host as he had a good close up view of her.

_Damn, she's so tiny…_

It wasn't an understatement. If she stood up and did water walking, she was nowhere near his bottom lip. Even his shortest whisker was many time her size. It was quickly followed by realization.

_Man, I guess I really am the fox now huh…_

**Naruto** had thought he had come to terms with his condition over the past few weeks, but deep inside himself, he had always been hoping of finding a way to escape, to return to how things were.

Seeing his host now here before him in person made him realise one thing.

He was bound here. Jinchuriki and bijuu. That was their relationship now. If she dies, he dies. If he was extracted, she dies.

Perhaps the thought of his life dependent on something so small, so fragile and vulnerable was trying to tell him something. But after tonight's event, he only wanted to continue protecting her.

**Naruto** was about to reach out to her when he stared at his raised giant paw and paused. _The heck with this! All right, if this is how it'll be then I'll be the world's number one most awesomest bijuu, Dattebayo!_

With that thought in mind, he send out one of his tails to pick the small figure off the tepid floor, gently laying her to rest on top of his head while the tail curled around the small figure protectively. He would've purred in contentment when he remembered why he was in such a pissy mood the last few weeks.

_God Damned itch!_


	2. Chapter 1

**October 11****th**** 8:41a.m.**

Naruto woke up groggily to the strong sharp scent of antiseptics and disinfectants. She pulled her cold feet back up into the thin hospital sheet, tugging it tight around her as she tried to get back to sleep.

Then her throat had chosen that moment to feel parched. Annoyed, she hurled aside the sheet and clambered off the hospital bed grumpily. _And that had been such a nice dream. _Standing tiptoed to reach the counter, she poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher. She frowned in frustration as she couldn't exactly recall the dream, but she knew it had been nice, orange, fuzzy and warm.

It was almost enough for her to forget about last night.

Her hand trembled and nearly dropped the pitcher. Carefully putting it back into place, she guzzled her glass of water quickly before checking the time. It reads 8:48a.m. Good. There's still at least two hours until visiting hours. She gave herself a once-over. Apart from some mild soreness, she felt normal. Even her hand seemed to be fine. Satisfied, she changed out of the flimsy hospital gown and slipped into a clean set of clothes provided. Time to leave.

She hated it when Jiji visited her in the hospital. He always did without fail. It's not that she wasn't happy or grateful for his company, but rather she hated the fake smile he would put up around her whenever he did. She had long since decided that her hate of bringing pain to the kindly old man far outweighs her own need for his love and attention. Those eyes just don't belong on his faceshe decided resolutely.

She was about to leave when a thought struck her. She didn't want to worry Jiji by leaving so abruptly either. Then she saw the pen and a clipboard with paper at the foot of her bed. Inspiration struck. Picking up the pen and paper, she wrote

_Dear Jiji,_

_Feeling much better. It was boring here so I'll be at home._

_Love,_

_Naruto_

She looked over the note. It looks ok right? As an afterthought, she scribbled a bit more and nodded to herself. That should cheer jiji up! Grinning happily, she placed the note under the glass, making sure it's in plain view and slipped out of the ward.

* * *

**9.00a.m.**

The ANBU climbed the stairs up to the Hokage's office. He had just finished up the report on his rounds. It had been an eventful night. He had found and detained a few more stragglers after receiving the change of patrol route from Hiruzen. As he stood outside the Hokage's door, he couldn't help but overhear snippets of an argument.

"…_nough. This is unrelated to the girl or her status. I had turned a blind eye when the council demanded for us to step down from policing the Shinobi, but if you're going to be making civilian arrests with the ANBU instead of going through us, then it's clear that the entire Military Police is just a white elephant of the entire Konoha administration!"  
_

The door burst open and out stormed a disgruntled Fugaku. He glared at the blank masked ANBU for a second before grudgingly nodding his head in acknowledgement and left. Unlike his brother-in-arms, he had never bothered to personalise his mask.

Feeling awkward, the ANBU knocked the door despite it being wide open.

Seeing his visitor, Hiruzen smiled and gestured at him to enter.

"I'm terribly sorry that you had to listen to that."

The ANBU simply raised a gloved hand to dismiss the fuss. The tiredness in the Hokage's voice didn't go unnoticed. "I'm here to submit the report of the patrol." He passed the documents to Hiruzen with a slight bow. Hiruzen accepted the documents and slowly began to flip through it.

"There had been three more arrest. I had them brought to Kame."

Hiruzen skimmed through the last page of the report. Satisfied, he nodded. "Very good. You're dismissed for the day. Although, allow me to thank you for bringing to my attention of Young Uzumaki's plight. Again."

The ANBU remained where he was, prompting Hiruzen to raise a questioning eyebrow.

The ANBU cleared his throat. "Well, there's one small detail I left out in the report since it doesn't exactly fall under the parameter of my patrols." He paused to check the Hokage's reaction. Finding none, he took it as a sign to continue. "You said to make sure she was safe, so I thought I paid her a visit earlier at the hospital." He reached into his pocked and pulled out a folded slip of paper, unfolding it. "I found this." He handed the piece of paper to a grim looking Hiruzen, as the older man instantly recognized the layout and importance of the paper and what it might imply.

His expression changed from grim, to surprised, and relief followed by a smile and soft chuckle as he recognizes the clumsy scrawl on the piece of paper. _Only Naruto would scribble all over something as important as her own medical report with whiskered smiley and signing off as fishcake._

Hiruzen lit his pipe and took a long draught. "Thanks for bringing this to me. Dismissed."

The ANBU gave a quick affirmative "Hai" before departing swiftly but silently.

* * *

**9:20a.m.**

Naruto arrived back at her apartment safely. She had avoided much of the morning crowds now that the morning rush hour was well over.

She stopped short outside the door as she stared at the peeled off paint and scratches on it, like a demented sticky note to remind her again of the night before. She took a deep breath before turning the doorknob, readying herself to the sight of her destroyed home?

She was stunned to find everything to be in order. The stool she knocked over was back in place, the wood fiberboards on her ceiling were all replaced. Even her walls were repainted, the carpet freshly cleaned and the crack on the kitchen wall was plastered. Then she remembered her door wasn't supposed to be that intact.

Suspiciously, Naruto entered her apartment cautiously and searched it for intruders. Fearing that this was some cruel new ploy by some sick person that wanted to lull her into a false sense of security.

Not that there was much searching to be done in her tiny studio apartment.

Naruto stood numbly in her living-cum-bedroom, uncertain as to what to feel. Part of her was overjoyed at the apparent genuine renewal of her dwelling as she dug her toes into the soft clean carpet. The other half of her however was torn between anger and confusion. Somehow, the absence of evidence of previous night's occurrence seemed mock and cheapened the experiences she had to endure.

It reminded her painfully of all the times in the orphanage when she was bullied. Any scars or bruises seemed to just disappear in a matter of seconds, leaving her accusation towards the offender baseless, leading to her caretakers giving her a harsh beating for lying instead. Although over time, she had come to view her regenerative capabilities to be a good thing, especially for one in her circumstances.

Feeling tired all the sudden, no surprise given her misadventure last night; she got onto bed, ready to sleep.

She found her gama plushy under her sheets. It was ripped in the belly, the arms and legs were torn at the seams and the cotton was spilling out. Before, the eyes of the toad were filled with the fondness and warmth of Jiji. Now, stitched onto a ruined body, the eyes stared blankly back at her, as they projected instead the cruel treatment of the villagers.

Despite that, she held back the tears and hugged her ruined birthday present that didn't even last a day close to her breast before the lack of sleep from the previous night caught up to her.

* * *

**Naruto **shifted uncomfortably at a corner of the ceiling in his cell. Yes. Ceiling.

The reason had been simple. **Naruto** had been grateful when he found out that wall walking was possible in here, and had since used it to get out of the annoyingly wet floor. Coupled with the fact that he was now a walking giant mass of chakra, he could pretty much stay up there. Forever.

Now, the reason for him being in a corner however, was much less simple. You see, it involved a little girl who was apparently crying her eyes out before the massive gate of his dank cell. For the past 2 hours.

Okay, so maybe it had only just been the past half hour or maybe less. But it was driving him nuts. There were numerous things **Uzumaki Naruto** disliked, and one of which were tears. He had shed his share of futile tears. Watched others did it over less. And sadly, he was also unable to forget the teary green beasts. He just couldn't stand it. Now faced with a smaller counterpart of himself, crying of all things, it simply just struck too close to home, especially when hers seemed so much more justified.

**Naruto** was about to claw his own ears off out of sheer exasperation when he blurted out "**HEY KID!"**

**

* * *

**

Naruto shot up straight as the deep booming voice resounded through the dank sewer. Her sobs were quenched and instead replaced by fear as she tried to locate the owner of the voice.

* * *

**Naruto **flinched in spite of himself. _There goes the "try-to-hide-from-her-for-the-next-7-years" plan. _Also his voice had been too intimidating. He sighed. _Guess the fox is out of the bag, _and shrugged mentally. He would just have to wing it as he goes._ I've never been one for carefully thought out plans anyway. That's more of Shikamaru's thing._ Toning down his voice, he tried again.

"**Hey, Kid."**

To his horror, his voice while deep, sounded unmistakably female. Matronly almost. _Oh well, it could be a lot worse_. It certainly was better than scaring the shit out of his Jinchuriki.

* * *

Naruto stared at the gates. She was sure it came from in there this time, although the voice had sounded very different, like a woman's. And it carried with it warmth and gentleness. Almost like Jiji's.

It unsettled her though. Naruto had managed to arrive in this place quite a few times. It was an odd place. While a dank dark sewer wasn't exactly pleasant, she had come to view it as her own personal space. She had peered several times through those strange intricate giant gates, but she had never saw anything. She had long assumed that there was nothing significant behind those bars.

She continued to stare at the gates in trepidation as she waited to see if whatever behind it would speak again. And it did.

"**Little one. Why were you crying?"**

Naruto was stunned as she considered the words. _She's actually concerned about me?_ She gaped at the gate unintelligently for a few seconds before stammering. "I… I… I'm s…sorry. I didn't realize there was s… somebody back th-there, ttebane."

She took a steadying breath to find her voice. "Did I bother you? I must have. I'm so sorry. It's just I thought there was nobody around here. I thought I was alone in this place, so nobody had to see me cry here."

"**And why would you wish to hide that, little one?"**

Naruto looked shiftily at her feet. "Well… you see, I hate crying, ttebane. It doesn't make things better, and all it does is upset people around you."

"**That's a very noble outlook you have there, little one. Would you care to tell me who was so mean that they would make a kind little one such as yourself cry?"**

She felt her cheeks burn at the compliment, never really getting one before. Her face fell however, when she was reminded just why she was there. She stood near the gate and recounted briefly of the events last night.

"The villagers. I don't get why they seem to hate me so much, they like to think of me as a beast. Even Jiji doesn't want to tell me why. He always said he'd tell me when I'm older. I didn't press him because he looked so sad whenever I brought it up. So no. I don't know why I'm crying."

Naruto blushed and looked away in horror. _D… did I just ranted to a complete stranger?_ Her embarrassment however, was fleeting as she retorted indignantly. "A… Anyway, the name's not "Little one"! It's Uzumaki Naruto, and you had better remember it, dattebane!"

She wasn't sure if she should felt insulted, flustered or frightened when a loud booming laughter resounded throughout the sewer.

"**I like you kid-err Naruto. You got spunk and your heart is in the right place. I like that. You reminded me so much of myself." **She thought she could almost see the grin accompanying those words. **"Tell you what, why don't you come back here whenever you feel the need for a friend or simply to ease the pain or when you're hurting. I could use the company."**

Naruto was shocked. Did she just receive an offer of friendship? Her stupefied expression slowly changed into a smile before turning into his trademark grin as she registered the meaning of his words. Her heart did a loop-the-loop.

"Really, you would be my friend? Awesome! So what's your name, where are you? Can I see you?"

There was a momentary silence as she waited eagerly for her new friend to reply. As the seconds ticked by, her smile faltered, worried that she had said something wrong or that she had come across as too forceful. Fearing that she had ruined her first chance at friendship, Naruto was about to utter an apology when her mysterious acquaintance finally spoke hesitantly.

"**You may not wish to befriend me once you learn of my name or my appearance, Naruto-chan."**

She shook her head vehemently. "You're the first person to offer me friendship, ttebane. I don't think there's anything you can do to make me wish otherwise. I promise I'll be your friend no matter what, dattebane!" as an afterthought, she added "But if you're not comfortable with showing yourself, then..."

"**No, if we're to be friends, it's only fair you know who I am. Though I am grateful that you would give me this chance."**

Naruto pursed her lips together as she waited anxiously for her newfound friend to show herself. She held her breath when she caught sight of some movement from the back of the cage as her mysterious friend stepped into the light and sat in front of the gate.

Before her stood a giant many-tailed fox. And by giant, she meant HUGE! Now she knew why it had been calling her little one. She should have guessed its size given the massive gate. It easily dwarfed the Hokage Mountain. She was surprised though that something this big could move that quietly and gracefully.

It has the shiniest orange coat she had ever seen and a pair of crimson eyes with cat-like pupils that were narrowed to a slit from the light. The eyes themselves were surrounded by black fur band that reaches up to either side of its ear, streaked with a yellow stripe at the centre. Three small but notable symmetric bumps adorning the top of its head like a crown. She noted it also had clawed human-like hand instead of paws There were also those nice fluffy, bushy tails. Simply put, it looked gorgeous.

The giant fox seemed to fidget a little, as if self-conscious of it's own appearance. Naruto had to stifle a giggle. "You know, Jiji always told me that a person shouldn't try and sell themselves short. You look beautiful, why would you think I wouldn't want to be your friend?"

The fox was surprised. **"You don't… hate me?"**

"Why would I?"

It stared incredulously at Naruto **"I don't know, maybe because I'm the terrible Kyubi no Yoko?"**

Naruto stared for a moment before she burst out laughing, "That's a good one! You're the Kyubi! Hahahaha! Man, I haven't heard such a good joke for a while!"

"**Why, whatever do you mean?"**

She snickered, "Well, first off the Kyubi was killed by the Yondaime Hokage, so there was no way you're the fox. Secondly, I've seen many pictures of the Kyubi and you look nothing like it! And finally, I may be five but even I know how to count! You got ten tails. If anything you should be Jubi instead of kyubi!"

"**Jubi?" **The giant fox huffed, **"Are you sure you can count? Last I checked I had ni…Ten-tails?" **It blinked in confusion at the 5 pairs of tails that surrounded its sides.

* * *

**Naruto **stared dumbly at his unexpected appendage. _What the hell? That wasn't there a moment ago!_ Upon further inspection, he noted his longest middle two tails weren't completely solid. Despite looking like bushy tails, they appeared slightly translucent. If he brought it close up, he could make out some bubbling chakra in it if he paid close enough attention. He also realised the annoying itch was gone. The slight movement in his peripheral vision forced him to file that thought away for later. There's more pressing matters at hand.

Naruto was staring at him wide-eyed. "Don't tell me…" _Here it comes… _"…You never learned how to count to ten?" she finished pityingly.

_WHAT?_ **Naruto **would have face faulted if he wasn't on all fours already.

"**OF COURSE I COULD COUNT TO TEN! WHAT DID YOU TAKE ME FOR? A MORON?" **he snapped before he could stop himself as his voice thundered menacingly through the sewers. Poor Naruto was cowering from his outburst, whimpering while her eyes shut tightly in fear. He instantly felt bad. **"I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take it out on you. It's just…" Naruto** wracked his mind for an explanation but it only made his head hurt.

"**You're right I guess… I'm not really the Kyubi. In fact, I don't know what I am anymore. I just woke up here a few weeks ago or was it months now looking like this…"**

"Eh? So, what did you looked like before?" the curious girl asked.

**Naruto **cursed inwardly as he realised he had unintentionally let slip something he really didn't want to and couldn't exactly explain. **"Um, you see…" **He had been about to come up with some half-baked excuse to brush her off when he remembered how he hated it when his teachers or instructors would do that to him when he was younger, either thinking he was too dumb or just at loss at how to explain it to him.

_"__I'm telling you this because you don't get it. You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?__"_ The nostalgic memory came unbidden as he crushed it immediately. Wouldn't do to get homesick now.

Then inspiration struck. He had only been trying to dispel the form before, but he supposed he could probably perform a simple Henge to show her. Provided it doesn't implode on him.

Molding his chakra for the first time in many weeks, he found that he no longer needed hand signs, as they now seem to flow according to his wish. Snapping them into the form required for the Henge, he snapped his eyes shut and concentrated hard on his former form. There was a loud poof and a lot of smoke. **Naruto **found himself coughing and wheezing as he leaned forward on his thigh. _Wait, thigh? It worked!_

* * *

Naruto stepped back in surprise when the huge fox exploded in a puff of smoke in mid-sentence. As the smoke clears, she found herself looking wide-eyed at a human sized person who had stumbled through the gates, standing right in front of her, awkwardly examining herself. "This is… what… I looked like…" Naruto was too busy taking in her appearance to notice the disappointment in her tone as she said it.

It was a woman of about 18 years of age, 5'6" tall with spiky bright yellow hair. Her eyes were the same as when she was the fox. She wears a long-sleeved cream coloured coat with black and yellow flame markings at the bottom with 10 orange Uzumaki swirl incorporated into the motif of the flames. Beneath the coat was an orange sleeveless turtleneck, a pair of blue pants and sandals. Her most notable physical characteristics however, were 3 pairs of fine delicate whisker marks across her face. So much like her very own thicker stripes.

"That was so AWESOME, Jubi-neechan! You have got to teach me how you did that!"

The newly dubbed Jubi seemed to be startled out of her reverie when she heard her new name. "Ju-Jubi?" Naruto poked her fingers together shyly, reminiscent of a certain Hyuga, "Well, since you called yourself Kyubi earlier and it's apparent that you're not, I thought I could call you Jubi since you got ten tails?" She peeked shyly out from her bangs with a small hopeful pout. The sheer innocence of that look almost made **Naruto** sympathize with Jiraya when he pulled the sexy jutsu on him.

**Naruto **pursed his lips in thought. "Just call me Juu. That sounds a lot better. Besides, should you were to accidentally call out Jubi for any reason, it might attract unwanted attention." Naruto grimaced and instantly agreed. When she looked back at Juu, she was stretching herself. "Kya~ that felt good. Though I still doubt I'll be bored of the beast form," she said to herself.

**Naruto** smiled as he found his younger counterpart continue to study him intently and at the same time her mouth opening and closing like a gold fish as she tried to think of something to say. He decided to spare her the awkwardness as he leaned forward and curled his fingers, making a gentle beckoning motion at her. She blinked and moved in front of her.

Juu held out a pinky in front of her. Naruto blinked again. "Here, this is my promise to you. I'll be by your side through thick and thin. Your burdens are my burden and your joys my joy. I pledge to help you succeed in whatever dreams you mave have, to see you not only as my friend, but also as family, my own flesh and blood. And should I ever intentionally cause you harm or betray you, may the Shinigami take me and my soul be damned. That's a promise of a life time!"

She was almost overwhelmed by tears of joy when she hooked her pinky with Juu. She yelped and jerked back in surprise when a warm pulse shot through her pinky, travelled down her arms and through her spine before she felt a comfortable feeling in the depth of her navel, like a warm breeze on a sunny day.

Naruto found Juu smiling back at her. Before she could ask for an explanation, Juu spoke "There now, you have an anchor to me." Naruto was puzzled "Anchor? Wasn't that a pinky promise?"

"I know you can't always find yourself back here. Now you can return here to find me whenever you want to. Just remember my signature." Juu winked.

She couldn't help it anymore as she burst into tears of happiness for the first time of her life and gave Juu a tackle hug.

* * *

**Naruto's** eyes widened in surprise as he found himself sitting on the wet floor with a sobbing 5 year-old buried in his bosom. He smiled and stroked her hair gently as he does his best to offer her what little comfort he could. _Guess they're at least good for something _He mused as he sighed contentedly and began unconsciously grooming Naruto with his tongue, eliciting a tickled giggle from the girl before realising in horror a little too late at what he was doing.

Few minutes later, he felt Naruto's breathing even out as the girl fell asleep and her body slowly faded out from his arms. He sighed wistfully before shifting back into a giant fox and strode back into the cell. _It just had to happen when I was beginning to enjoy her company._

In the safety of the depths of his cell, **Naruto **gave a relieved sigh. Feeling glad that he had somehow managed to avoid the tougher questions. The thought also made him grimace. _Whatever am I going to tell her when she starts asking? _He decided to put them off and hope the situation would resolve itself eventually. He had more pressing matters to attend to anyway.

A sudden rush of memories made him stumble and collapse onto the ground. For the last few hours he had been spacing out, regaining more of the memories. They seemed to be coming faster and in greater volumes. He found himself doing more things he never knew how to do such as marking Naruto with his chakra or that tongue-grooming thing.

He still felt divided over that. Apart of him was appalled at his own action while the other half had felt it was the most natural thing to do.

He frowned deeply with some of his new memories. If he was right, then he might have a theory for his current condition. It would seemed that both he and the Kyubi had died during the fiasco, but because of their merge during that time, the rebirth process had someone melded them together, and with his chakra being lass massive than Kyubi's it had recovered and stabilised faster

Much to his embarrassment, it was unprecedented as far as he could work out from the memories, for a jinchuriki to die while in beast mode other than their chakra store being drained dry by the bijuu. So his was a unique case. Though it still doesn't quite explain the alternate dimension.

Or the extra tail.

He wasn't sure if he liked his own theory or even wanted it to be true.

* * *

**5:43p.m.**

Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his temple tiredly as he filed away a folder and took a long draught off his pipe. Exhaling, he looked at the small stack of paperwork before him before selecting another one and began reading its content.

Contrary to popular belief, the Hokage was not always swamped by paperwork. The reason it was a headache and took so much time was the sensitive nature and importance of their contents as the more mundane tasks were usually left to the more experienced and trusted Chunin.

He frowned darkly at the paper. It was the one concerning the mob. It only needed a few signatures here and there and the fates of all 47 instigators involved would be sealed. Such was the responsibilities of a leader. He puffed his pipe unconsciously as he gazed out of the windows at the village and thought carefully on the matter.

It was getting dark out. He supposed he could call it a day and pay the Naruto a visit before calling it a day. Picking up his hat, he looked down on the piece of paper and signed it off before leaving his office.

* * *

**6:50p.m.**

Naruto rubbed off some crusted tears from her eyes as she awoke to the growling and hissing sensation at the pit of her stomach. She noted that it was dusk already. Hadn't really eaten anything since the night before, she got to the kitchen and opened her larder for some ramen.

As she waited for the water to boil, Naruto recalled her dream. Unlike before she could clearly remember this one. Her mood dampened slightly, wishing the dream were real as she poured the boiled water into the cup of ramen. She was alarmed when she felt a familiar warm sensation that was unlike the burning of stomach acid near her navel.

_No way!_ She pulled up her shirt and looked down at her belly. There, she found the layout of the most intricate spiral design. She gingerly traced her finger over it and remembered what Juu said. Focusing on the warmth, she pictured Juu before her.

"_**Hey there sleepyhead. I see you're finally awake?"**_ came the teasing reply.

To say Naruto was ecstatic would be an understatement.

"Juu-neechan! You're real!"

"_**I resent that. Of course I'm real. You think that was all a dream? No such luck. No you're stuck with me forever. Ooh, Ramen! I haven't had one of those for a while now. Hurry up and eat up! I'll never forgive you if you let a perfectly warm bowl of ramen go to waste."**_

Naruto giggled happily, both at Juu's silliness and their shared love of ramen as she quickly wolfed down her dinner.

"_**Man, you made me wish I can enjoy a bowl of ramen now…" **_Naruto sweat dropped as she tried to imagine the giant fox eating a bowl of ramen. _It must take a really big bowl._

Her curiosity got the better of her as asked after slurping up the last of the salty broth from the cup. "Say, Juu-nee, where are you anyway. Why is it I can hear you but not see you? I mean you can see and hear me right?"

"… _**Maa, the answer to your question is a little complicated. What I'm about to say to you, you must p-no, I ask of you, to try and keep it to yourself, okay?"**_

Naruto frowned slightly. Although she was sad that it probably meant she couldn't brag about her newest awesomest friend, she wanted badly to gain her approval. "Hai."

"_**You could say I was sort of sealed into you."**_

"Sealed?" Naruto thought she heard a sigh.

"_**Um, yes. Sealing or rather fuinjutsu **__**a type of Jutsu that seal objects, living beings, chakra along with a wide variety of other things within another object. It's something usually done by Shinobi. And in this case, I was sealed into you."**_

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was just turning Naruto's doorknob when he heard something that made the blood in his veins turn to ice. "…so that's fuinjutsu. Neh, Juu-nee, is that what the markings on my stomach is for?" Wasting not another moment, he shunshin into the aparment, looking to apprehend this Juu-nee.

"Jiji!" exclaimed a surprised Naruto. The girl was about to say something when Hiruzen grabbed her tightly by the shoulders. "Naruto, who were you talking to and where is she, what had she told you?" he demanded hotly.

"W-wh, N-No one. I wasn't talking to anyone."

"Don't lie to me!"

Hiruzen caught himself a little too late when the little girl recoiled from him and he saw beginnings of tears forming at the corner of her eyes. "I'm sorry Naruto. I'm terribly sorry." The old man sighed and rubbed his temples. "Forgive me Naruto. I hadn't slept at all and I was rather jumpy." He felt his stomach clench uncomfortably when Naruto nodded her head without meeting his gaze. He cursed at his lapse in judgment.

_She was about to tell me something too _he realised in hindsight.

He mentally made a note to ask his Shinobi to look out for intruders or spies. Maybe closer scrutiny on people from Kaminari no Kuni. Juu definitely sounded like a name that came from their region. _I'm slipping up. Guess I really am getting too old to be going without sleep._

He slowly sat down beside the shaken girl and placed a hand on her shoulder gently and was glad she did not flinch. He weighed his next words carefully. Since apparently, the cat was out of the bag, he might as well made sure she learns of it from a reputable source.

"Naruto." He began gently and tried to look into her eyes. "You've always asked about why the villagers treated you so badly." That got her full attention. Good.

"There are some things I had kept from you. I won't blame you if you come to hate me." He held up a finger to stop any protest from his sweet little grandchild before continuing. "But I hope you'll understand, what I did, I did it in hopes that it would give you a better life. I hope it's not too late or too early to tell you this, but I need you to listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you."

* * *

**9.30p.m. **

The ANBU sat at his workbench, working on the maintenance of his trusty double-limbed crossbow. He paused a moment when he felt some of his traps being tripped. A second later, seemingly satisfied, he continued his task of changing the bearings.

"You sure set up some very elaborate traps back there." An amused Hiruzen greeted him as he stepped out from the shadows.

Setting down his tools, he turned around to face the Hokage. "It is what I am born to do. I'm glad you find it adequate, although you seemed to have no trouble getting past them. Perhaps I should put in more effort next time."

Hiruzen winced at that. "I hope it wouldn't come to that. Or I would have to lose a limb each time I decided to come to visit." The ANBU chuckled "Well, that's the general idea."

Hiruzen scowled before chuckling. "You're so much like your father in that regards. He had a penchant to take all things Shinobi to its limits"

The comment got the ANBU's full attention. In spite of himself, he had very much wanted to learn about his own lineage. The old man had over the years, occasionally mentioned his father in passing.

He waited for a few minutes before resigning disappointedly to the fact that cryptic statements were all he was ever going to get out of the old man about his father. "So to what do I owe this rare visit?"

"Straight to the point as usual. There's something important I need to discuss with you and it concerns your next assignment."

The ANBU pulled the chair out to offer the Hokage. "It's a permanent assignment." He stiffened at that.

A permanent assignment means that the Shinobi in question will be required to handle the task until retirement or death. Permanent assignments also usually connote one of two things. He was either trust-worthy enough to be given such a task, or he was being sent on a suicide mission. Or both.

"I've picked you because of your excellent record of working independently and your ability to make quick, decisive and sound judgment." Hiruzen passed over a thick recently compiled briefing over to his ANBU and allowed him ample time to read through the contents. He burnt the folder once he was done.

"There's a secondary assignment to this as well."

"And what would that be?"

Hiurzen smiled and handed him a thick stack of folders. "Tell me what you think of them."

* * *

**9:07p.m.**

Naruto lay on her back on the bed, head stacked high against her pillow. Her mind went over what Jiji had told her. It had been a bombshell to finally learn the truth. Everything made much more sense now.

She had felt betrayed that despite being so involved, something of such importance was kept from her and as an S-classed secret no less, but as she lay on her bed thinking about it over and over again, she slowly come to grudgingly accept what he had done for her.

She still wasn't sure what to think about the Yondaime Hokage though. The man had been her idol. On one hand, she was proud that he had picked her to carry such a burden, but at the same time, she felt like screaming at him for the hell his selfless act had put her through.

"Ne, Juu-neechan…" she began tentatively. The fox had been quiet throughout the night. She wasn't sure what to think about the fox either. From what Jiji had told her, it had destroyed countless of lives of the village and was the source of her torment. If anything she should be screaming and cursing at it right now.

It was also her first and newfound friend.

"_**H..hai, Naruto-chan?"**_ came the timid reply.

Somehow, that made her smile. "Your promise… we're still friends, right?"

"_**O-of Course! I never go back on my word, Dattebayo!" **_

She giggled as the warmth spreading from her navel rise up to her cheeks causing her to yawn drowsily.

"_**Thank you for giving me this chance… Thank you… Thank you!"**_

"…*Yawn*…You too… uu-nee…" She mumbled as she fell asleep with a content smile on her face for the second time that day.

.

.

.

* * *

***A/N: **

**Thanks for the reviews. Originally I had intended to make this as a one-shot but it was a rare original idea and I couldn't just leave it as it is. Thanks for the support thus far and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer : Refer Prologue.**

**January 23, 3 years later**

Juu opened an eyelid lazily as the lights in the cell pulsed gently. She smiled faintly, having gotten used to her host's biological clock by now and patiently waited.

After a while, it dimmed and pulsed a little more. She resisted an eye twitch.

"_**Na-ru-to~" **_she called out gently. The lights flicked this time and she let out an exasperated sigh.

"_**Naruto…" **_A soft lazy murmur echoed through her cell. She twitched.

"_**Naruto! Oi! NARUTO!"**_

"_I'm up…I'm up! Geez, neechan, you know I was gonna get up eventually. There's no need to yell."_ Came a petulant retort as a blanket was tossed off the bed and its reluctant occupant dragged herself into the bathroom.

Juu scoffed derisively. _**"Says the person who had been ignoring her alarm clock for the past week. And if I know you which I know I do, you're probably going to sleep in for another 10 minutes and end up being late."**_

"_Bitch."_ Naruto muttered as she squeezes toothpaste onto her brush

"_**Vixen."**_ Juu corrected.

"_Like that's any better."_

She closed the bathroom cabinet and looked into the mirror and started brushing her teeth. The reflection showed a scrawny 8 year-old with a short messy mop of spiky bright-yellow hair.

Juu had been flattered when she chose to cut her hair. Naruto had over time, come to view her as a role model. Before her first day at the Ninja academy, she had traded her long ponytail for **Naruto's** messy, spiky mop.

Hiruzen had asked about the sudden change in hairstyle. Naruto just blushed and mumbled some vague excuse about long hair getting in the way of fighting. Both Juu and the Hokage laughed inwardly at that. The girl obviously didn't know about jutsu like Hari Jizou. Her looks weren't the only things that changed though.

Juu and Hiruzen, the latter had noted sadly that Naruto had also started inheriting her more brazen and boyish nature. On the plus side, she was still a lot less obnoxious than **Naruto** was and a lot more sensitive to others.

Naruto zipped up the front of her favourite orange jacket over a white T-shirt and matching orange pants after finishing her shower and made her way into the kitchen. Popping some bread into the toaster, she sat down and waited.

"_**You know, if you don't hurry up, you'll be late."**_

Naruto rolled her eyes _"I unlike you, need to eat. And like you even care. You can't stand those boring classes just as much as I do. All Iruka does is drone on and on about useless theory. You teach better than he does!"_

"_**Naruto…" **_Juu began disapprovingly but she was cut off.

"_Besides, it'll only take less than 5 minutes if we take the shortcut! By the way, that has got to be the most awesome birthday present ever, Juu-nee!"_

"_**Naruto, I didn't teach you that so you could use it so blatantly." **_Juu protested half-heartedly.

The toasts popped out from the toaster. Naruto bit onto one and grabbed the other as she dashed out of the door. _"It's not like you didn't see what was coming when you taught it to me, neechan~"_

**Naruto** chuckled deviously _**"Aah~ that look on Mizuki-teme was priceless."**_

* * *

**Uchiha District**

Uchiha Sasuke pulled on his favourite dark blue shirt with the Uchiwa emblem of his clan and stood before the full-length mirror of his wardrobe, examining his appearance, making sure nothing was out of place. The clan heir of the Uchiha clan needed to set some standards after all. Satisfied, he double-checked the contents of his hip pouch before hurrying out of his room.

He slowed to a stop and entered the living room slowly, almost respectfully. In the room was Uchiha Fugaku, his father and former Chief of Konoha Military Police and clan head of the Uchiha. Former because the Military Police had been dissolved when the rest of the Uchiha clan was no more.

Sasuke had been shocked when he came home from the Academy one evening to find his clan compound surrounded by ANBU and was stopped by the Sandaime himself before he could go in only to be told the distressing news that his brother had went rogue and massacred his entire clan. It was only with the Hokage's interference that his parents were spared, though not without his mother being critically injured.

Sasuke clenched his fist at the sight of a man he once admired. His father was no longer the proud paragon of a Shinobi he once was. In his place was now a drunken, pallid and unshaven man who looked 10 years older than his age, slumped unconsciously at the table of their living room, body reeking of alcohol.

_One day, Dad. I'll bring Itachi to justice and you'll no longer have to live in shame of his acts. I'll make you proud. Just wait for me._

"Sasuke, you're going to be late if you don't hurry. I packed your bento and left it at the usual spot. Don't forget it!" Mikoto called out to her son, snapping him out of his brooding. Sasuke scowled at his mother.

"Kaa-san, stop treating me like a child. You don't have to do that every day, I can pack my own lunch just fine!" He protested and waved a tomato in his hand as to prove his point.

Mikoto frowned at her son, causing the slight crease line on her forehead to deepen. "That's not enough for a meal, Sasuke. You need more than just that if you want to maintain a healthy body for a Shinobi." Sasuke sighed resignedly as he quickly finished putting on his shoes before mumbling a quick goodbye and ran off before his mom could say another word.

Mikoto allowed herself a small smile as she noticed he had taken the bento with him. _Guess he's still as gullible._

Her smile was fleeting however as she turned back into the kitchen. She had always dreaded the time when Sasuke left for Academy. She cast her husband a soft pained look. Sometimes she wondered if she would have succumbed to the shame and guilt had it not been Sasuke's refreshing naivety around the house. She shuddered to think about the long hours or days when Sasuke would be away once he started taking missions.

Perhaps she could take up Shinobi duty again when Sasuke graduates. Provided if Sandaime was gracious enough to allow it.

Sighing remorsefully, she picked up an already cleaned plate and started washing it.

* * *

**On the other side of Konoha**

"Sakura, what's the hurry? You haven't had your breakfast yet!" Mrs. Haruno yelled exasperatedly.

"I can't mom, I'm late!" Sakura Haruno told her bewildered mother. "Late? It's only a quarter past seven, doesn't your class start at eight?"

"Hai, but if I don't hurry now, Ino-pig will steal th-um, my seat! Ittekimasu!"

"SAKURA… Yare yare, kids these days sure start early don't they. Still, I wish she'd take more care of her own body instead of chasing after boys. You should try talking to her, dear. I worry for our girl."

Mr. Haruno looked up from his newspaper "Eh, you said something, dear?" He realised his mistake a little too late when he saw the veins on his wife's forehead and heard the cracking of knuckles.

"SHANNARO!"

A flock of birds flew out of the nearby trees as the Haruno household began its day.

* * *

**Nara Ranch**

"Good morning *munch* Nara-obasan *munch munch*"

"Ah Chōji-kun, you're here already. Come on in and wait while I get that good for nothing son of mine. Knowing him, he's probably still sleeping. Shikamaru!" Yoshino yelled as she ushered a plump Akimichi Chōji who was still munching on a bag of chips into their living room.

"Here, help yourself to something." Yoshino said sweetly as she placed a huge tray of sandwiches before Chōji before yelling again at the top of her voice "SHIKAMARU!"

"SHIKAMARU NARA! I SWEAR IF I HAVE TO CALL YOUR NAME ONE-MORE-TIME…"

"Gee, I'm up, I'm up." A disgruntled Shikamaru slowly descended a flight of stairs, one hand in pocket while the other was stuck in his ears by his pinky. "Troublesome" He muttered under his breath the moment his mother turned away.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. C'mon Chōji." As he hurriedly walk past his best friend who was licking his fingers before the empty tray.

When the door shut behind them Shikamaru cast his friend a lazy gaze "Hope you had enough time to enjoy my breakfast." It was more a statement than a question. Chōji smacked his lips together.

"mmhmm… Your mom makes the best sandwich as always. I just can't understand how you would pass it up so willingly."

"It's just too troublesome." Chōji looked like he was about to protest but decided he was getting the long end of the stick and decided to keep quiet. The two continue to stroll down the road slowly in silence.

"Will you two hurry up?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as an irate Yamanaka Ino destroyed his peaceful morning.

"Honestly, will it kill you two to walk a little faster? If Forehead girl steals my seat, you two are going to have hell to pay!"

"You didn't have to wait for us you know." Shikamaru stated deadpanned.

Ino rolled her eyes and snapped "As if! Otou-san won't let me walk off to the academy alone until you two are here. I would have ditched you two if I had a choice in the matter. So move it!" She herded the two boys from behind in a vain attempt to get them to walk faster.

"And keep your distance as usual in class. I don't want your lameness to affect my chances with Sasuke."

"Troublesome."

* * *

**Inuzuka Kennels**

Hana Inuzuka picked up and put on her vet coat by the coat hanger. She was about to leave for the veterinary when she noticed her brother's pair of shoes still in the shoe cabinet.

"Kiba!" Hana frowned. _Where is that kid?_

"Oi, Kiba! You're going to be late if you don't hurry up!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming, just let me… Hey, sis! Have you seen Akamaru's treats?" came a frustrated yell.

"Have you searched the third left cabinet from the top? I thought that was where you left it to keep it out of reach from the other pups?"

"Found it! Thanks sis! Yahoo, Akamaru! We're set, let's go!" Hana watched amusedly from the front porch at her kid brother who was trying to wear his shoe and run at the same time.

"Honestly, you should be more organized about your own things you know." Hana lectured.

"Says the person with dirty laundry strewn all over her room." Akamaru barked from the top of his head in agreement.

"Why you!" Kiba made some exaggerated gagging sounds as his sister hold him in a faux chokehold. "Hmph! See if I'll cover for you from mom when Iruka sends complaint letter of you skipping again."

Kiba paled considerably. "He did WHAT?"

Hana grinned smugly "Why dear brother, I don't suppose you are that naïve that you figured you could skip class AND detention without consequences?" She produced a stack of letter from her sleeve. "As of last semester, there have been 32 counts of you skipping with those friends of yours. Lucky for you I'm usually the one who brings in the mail and none of these have reached mom yet."

Kiba laughed nervously and clapped his hands together in a begging manner "You wouldn't right, sis?"

"Like I said, you should show me a bit more respect if you want me to keep your sorry hide safe."

"Thanks sis! You're the best!"

"You know, while I agree that the classes are boring you really should put in some effort in class. It's not that hard, just think of it as practice for guard duty." Kiba groaned "Aww, come on sis, that's not fair! You skipped too when you're in the academy."

"Yes, but I sure didn't do it more than once every single week plus I'm the top of my year. A qualification that you don't have."

Hana slowed to a stop as they approached an intersection "Stay out of trouble now, and take care of Akamaru!" She shook her head as her brother sprinted down the road. Taking the left turn she found herself running into someone she did not expect.

"So. Who's been keeping what from me now?"

Hana winced. _Gomen, otouto!_

* * *

**Konoha Academy**

A small bright red fox sniffed the air for threats. Finding none, it squeezed itself through the small ditch by the fence surrounding the academy. It was about to shake the dirt off it's shiny coat when…

"_**Damnit, hide!"**_

Heeding the warning, it darted behind some shrubs. _"What is it Juu-nee?"_

"_**Hy**__**ū**__**ga 4 O'clock!"**_

Peeking out from underneath the shrub, she spied a bashful Hinata being escorted by her stoic elder cousin Neji.

* * *

Hinata was trying to get as far away from her over protective cousin while at the same time, trying to stay close enough to not offend or cause her cousin trouble. The stares and whispers as well as the wide berth they were given as they passed made her extremely self-conscious.

Her injury from training inconveniently chose that moment to act up as she winced and clutched her sides. Neji was immediately all over her.

"Hinata-sama, are you hurt? Was I too rough with you last night? Do you need a doctor?"

Unlike most of her peers, Hinata had been an early bloomer and thus had been given the talk. She was also less innocent than she looked.

Hinata felt her face flush beet red at the innuendo her cousin had unknowingly made as the crowd around her began to whisper excitedly and housewives giggled amongst themselves. "I… I… I'm f-fine!" Embarrassment won over pain as she stood up and bolted immediately into the academy, leaving a confused Neji in the dust.

Neji sighed helplessly at the retreating form of his cousin, hoping his timid cousin would be all right. Especially after the almost masochistic training session she made him put her through.

She was the only main house member he respected after all. He couldn't help but feel partly responsible for the difficult situation she was in.

It was an open secret that his father, Hizashi held some bitter resentment towards the main house. It had grown worse of late mainly because of he felt Neji was being denied his full potential due to his natural proficiency in the gentle fist.

This had put a strain on Hizashi and Hiashi's relationship, which in turn, spurred Hiashi to push his daughter harder and harder to prove to his brother that his son wasn't being sidelined over some second rate Kunoichi.

He himself had used to hold some degree of resentment towards her and the main house. Until she had come to him several weeks ago, begging him to be her sparring partner so that she could improve. He had reluctantly accepted, agreeing that if she improved enough, his father would probably relent and swallow another bitter pill for the sake of the clan, having grown weary of the uneasy tension at the dinner table.

She had surprised him with her fiery determination during their spars, standing up and continuing after he had hit her the hardest repeatedly. Without realising it, he had started to look forward in helping her out more and more. It filled his heart with a hope that made him want to believe that she could challenge fate.

Neji stopped in shock at his own train of thought before shaking his head sadly. Although she had the determination, even he could tell she was improving nowhere as fast as he was.

_Such is fate. To grant me all the potential of the clan's technique yet never able to succeed the clan and burdening her who wish not to fight with the responsibility and namesake of the clan _he thought wryly as he made his way to his own class.

* * *

Seeing the two Hyūga warmed Juu's heart. Although the two weren't as close as they had been; Neji not hating Hinata's guts out was a plus in her book. Apparently, Hizashi had survived this timeline as the Kumo Head Ninja was apprehended by the ANBU instead of a vengeful Hiashi.

While eager to greet her friend, Naruto remained hidden behind the shrub. It wouldn't do to draw the attention of those two now. Especially since Hinata had finally activated her Byakugan a few weeks ago. While there's nothing unusual about a red fox around these parts, a red fox with chakra coils and with bijuu level reserve however was another story.

"_**And THIS is precisely why you shouldn't be using this carelessly. If I had been any other bijuu, you'd be dead!"**_ On her 7th birthday, Juu had taught Naruto the crudest beast transformation. The idea came from **Naruto's** own imploded version of his initial beast transformation. While Naruto haven't removed her own seal or mastered her hatred yet, with some modification of the Henge and strict regulation of her potent chakra, making sure only the purest got through, Naruto had been able to transform into a real fox.

Her intent had been so that Naruto would be able to avoid any unsavory characters. However, the girl had been absolutely thrilled with the technique especially when she realised not even the old man was able to see through it. Since then, she had been using it every chance she got. Juu didn't blame her though since it was pretty much the only Jutsu she knew outside of the Academic basics, which they had only begun in. She herself had pretty much done the same with her Kage Bunshin when she first learned it.

"_Alright, Alright! I get your point. No need to get your tails in a bunch. Yeesh. This would be the last time, I promise. Anyway, let's go get the present."_

"_**Eh, Present? What present?"**_

Naruto rolled her eyes. _"You're incorrigible, Juu." _

* * *

Naruto caught up with Hinata before she entered the class. Sneaking behind the Hyūga with expert stealth, she grabbed her in a hug from behind. "Hinata!"

Said girl tensed under the embrace and turned stiffly halfway around. The sight of the blond spiky locks, blue eye and whisker marks from her peripheral vision caused her face to heat up and she fainted.

"Ara? Hinata? Hinata!" Naruto yelled as she held onto her comatose friend. "Not again!" She sighed resignedly as she dragged her friend into the classroom to her usual seat. _"Ne, Juu-nee, why is it Hinata-chan always faints? I mean she's not anemic is she? Her face looks pretty healthy to me."_

"_**To be honest, I have no idea."**_ Juu was intrigued too. She knew last time round it was because Hinata was infatuated with her male self, but the Naruto here was a girl. That could only mean Hinata was… _**Naah**__._She quickly dismissed the absurd thought.

Naruto pulled Hinata through the classroom door. She was greeted by Kiba who called out to her from the back of the class, waving his hands in the air wildly "Yahoo, Naruto! What do you have there?"

Naruto lifted Hinata or at least tried to. "It's Hinata. She fainted again, would you guys mind lending me a hand? She might not look it but she is rather-ngh Heavy!" she panted as she tried to pull Hinata up the steps.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow "Troublesome" and went back to sleep.

Kiba howled in laughter before bounding out of his seat to help Naruto haul the unconscious girl up the flight of stairs before depositing her on the empty seat to the left of Shino. Naruto took the one to his right, sitting between Shino and Kiba.

"Ohayo, Shino!" Naruto greeted as she plopped down onto her seat. Shino turned around and gave a curt nod. "Ohayo, Naruto." However, before Naruto could say anything further, Iruka had entered the classroom and yelled "QUIET!"

And thus, began the boring lectures as Naruto unconsciously tone out her boring sensei.

* * *

Hinata regained consciousness. Like any good shinobi, she did not open her eyes immediately or snap awake but instead, took her time to feel her surroundings.

_Ah, I'm on a chair_. She heard Iruka sensei talking_. The class then? Faint buzzing… That means I'm on my usual seat next to Shino._

She slowly connected the dots until she remembered. Naruto hugged her! She hoped no one was paying attention to her right now as her face flushed bright red as she tried to calm her excited heart.

She has always admired the blonde. Naruto had always been able to stand his grounds and act with such confidence despite the harsh treatment from the villagers. It made her see herself in him. Or at least what she hoped to be able to become.

She soon found herself trailing after him just for that bout of inspiration or even a boost of confidence. Gradually, she realised a little too late that her admiration had turned into a crush when she started having unhealthy daydreams of Naruto.

Then it was about three weeks ago when she finally activated her Byakugan. Being the curious pubescent child she is, Hinata couldn't help but sneaked a peek at her crush. That was when her problems truly began. Naruto was a girl.

She had thought that would be the end of her crush. But if anything, her infatuation with the blonde had only gotten worse as she found that she still couldn't stop thinking about Naruto, what she seen and what it implies. It didn't help that she didn't have anyone else to talk to about it. She had been in a state of denial for the past few weeks, to the point where she had begged her cousin, Neji to spar with her nightly just so that she would be distracted from her less than pure thoughts of forbidden love.

She carefully opened her eyes and sighed a relief as everyone else was either paying rapt attention to Iruka or just too bored to care. She chose that moment to steal a glance at her crush only to smile at her drooling on the desk. _Kawaii desu!_

* * *

"… and therefore, by mixing different ratios of the two energies, new types of chakra can be formed such as the five basic elements. Any questions?" Iruka swept his eyes across the classroom before nodding satisfyingly as no one had their hands raised. Then his eyebrow twitched in annoyance as a loud snore permeated the class.

"DON'T SLEEP IN MY CLASS!" He yelled and at the same time, threw a duster with precision possessed only by a Shinobi.

***THUNK***

"Ite-te-te! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Naruto leaped onto the table and shouted. Juu groaned whilst Kiba cheered as they started another of their frequent rows. "Yahoo~ one before recess! You owe me half your share of lunch Chōji!" The rest of the class watched on bemusedly at the exchange between the two.

"YOU'VE GOT THE BALLS TO SAY THAT AFTER SLEEPING IN MY CLASS!"

"OH YEAH? AT LEAST I HAVE THE BALLS TO DO THINGS IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. UNLIKE SOMEONE WHO WOULD THROW THINGS AT A SLEEPING PERSON!"

"HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO YOUR SENSEI! ALL RIGHT, IF YOU CAN'T ANSWER THIS QUESTION CORRECTLY, YOU'RE GETTING 1 MONTH'S WORTH OF DETENTION!"

"BRING IT!"

"HOW MANY TENKETSU ARE THERE IN A HUMAN'S BODY?"

"361!"

"HA! THAT WAS… CO-correct…?" The rest of the class stared at Naruto as if she had grown a second head as she sat down indignantly.

Iruka was at a loss for words. It was the first time Naruto had gotten any of his questions right. He suddenly felt bad for taking it out on Naruto like that. The bell for recess rang and most of the students whooped for joy. Iruka sighed as he picked up his notes. "Well, enjoy your recess everyone, but I suggest a light meal since we're having Taijutsu practice after this." With that, the man left his class with much on his head to think about.

* * *

Kiba chuckled happily as he collected his share of Chōji's lunch from its reluctant owner. "Thanks to you Naruto, Akamaru and I can finally enjoy these awesome pork roast from Chōji! Still, way to go with Iruka-sensei! Keep that up and we might just have to drop your "Dobe" title."

Naruto grinned, "Heh, I'm just awesome like that!"

"Ah, that reminds me." She unfurled a burlap sack to reveal a rotting piece of log. "Happy Birthday Shino!" she wished chirpily. The whole class became silent when they heard that and stared.

Kiba was the first person to break the silence. "What the hell! Shino has a birthday?" A sentiment easily shared by half the class.

Shino felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. _I kind of hate him_. "Yes, Kiba. I like everyone else in this room, have a birthday." Everyone else's sweat dropped, as it was clearly not the general consensus. He accepted the piece of rotten log from Naruto. This prompted everyone to stare at Naruto. Ino was the one to break the silence this time "Seriously Naruto, a rotten log? Couldn't you have done better? Also, Happy birthday Shino!"

Naruto pouted angrily at her "Of course not, my present is much cooler than a rotten log, Dattebane! My present is…" She was cut off by shrieks from the girls and some of the guys.

All the eyes in the class were now on Shino and his log. There was a large white maggot-like worm crawling out of the log. Its width was easily the size of a human palm.

"Ha! I told you my present was cool!"

Shino pushed his shades up, and held the larva close, interest obviously piqued. "This is a Kumo Goliath Stag Beetle larva. They're extremely rare and are said to be found only in the high altitude forest surrounding Kaminari no Kuni. I know this may come across as rude, but where did you find it?"

Naruto blinked. _"Kuso! Juu-nee, What do I tell him? I didn't know it was something that rare! I can't say we sneaked out of the borders for it!"_

"_**How am I supposed to know? I just happened to know a certain Aburame waay back who was enamored by it when he found it so I figured Shino might like it! Besides, you did ask for something special!"**_

"_But not that rare! What do I tell him now?"_

Naruto laughed nervously "Ahaha, well I just happened to found one in…_**training ground 44… **_Training ground 44!"

Shino raised his eyebrow skeptically and pushed his shades. "I see… Thanks for the present Naruto."

They felt a sudden chill from their back when they heard a crisp voice "Training ground 44, Naruto-kun?"

"Hokage-sama!"

"Eheheheh! Ji-Jiji!"

"_Crap! Why didn't you warn me of him, Juu?"_

"_**I didn't sense him anywhere!"**_

"Ah, good afternoon, class, and Happy Birthday Shino. Now, if you'll all excuse us, I've promised Naruto a bowl of ramen over at Ichiraku's. Have a nice day."

The class sweat dropped when the Sandaime grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and the two disappeared in a Shunshin.

* * *

**Ichiraku Ramen**

Teuchi placed two bowls of ramen in front of his customers before quietly retreating with Ayame into the back of the stall. Even they could feel the uncomfortable tension between the two.

Naruto sat nervously on her cold hands and stared at her feet while Hiruzen looked sternly down at her.

"I finally decided to look away from my paper work and thought I see how my favourite grandchild is doing. And guess what I saw." Naruto cringed.

"I saw her sleeping in class, having a shouting match with her teacher, and then giving her friend an exotic pet that is found ONLY on the drifting island of Kumo and claiming to have set foot in forbidden grounds within Konoha. Care to explain yourself?"

There was another moment of tense silence. "I… got the question right! That counts as something right?" She offered and grinned meekly only to look away again when her Jiji continued glaring angrily at her.

"This has something to do with that Juu-nee of yours again doesn't it?" He got all the answer he needed from the slight twitch at the mere mention of the name. Hiruzen resigned as he found that he couldn't stay angry with the girl for long and placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "All right. I won't question you further. I'll believe in you since you trust this Juu-nee so much. I'm just glad to know it wasn't you who had stepped foot into training ground 44."

At this, Naruto turned around to face him before giving him a loving hug. "You're the best Jiji!"

"Although, I need you to promise me that you will not step foot into training ground 44 without my permission."

"Okay! I promise!"

"Good. Now finish up your ramen and hurry back to class. And don't you dare skip! Iruka had been complaining to me about your antics lately."

Naruto grinned sheepishly before she pretty much "inhaled" the two bowls of ramen on the counter. "Thanks for the lunch Jiji! No worries, I'll be good I promise!" before running back to her class.

Hiruzen looked fondly at her retreating shadow before placing the payment for the ramen and started walking slowly back to his office. She had come a long way since that night three years ago. The villagers had also backed down since his draconian punishment towards any offenders as well as the exile of a few high profile civilian leaders. Coupled with the Uchiha incident, his own councilors as well as Danzō were all placed under house arrest for issuing orders behind his back.

Despite that, his actions were not without it's ramifications. Partly because of his harsh punishment towards any offenders and mostly due to the girl's status, most of the villagers had wanted absolutely nothing to do with the girl and as a result, instead of being physically abused, she was ostracized by most of the populace. He supposed it was the lesser of two evils. Still, the very idea of the lonely child finding solace in some unknown, foreign Shinobi worried him.

Then again, whoever this elusive Juu was she has got to be at least Kage level in terms of skill. It had almost been three years now and he had all his most trusted and skilled Shinobi looking out for her and had his most skilled ANBU trailing young Naruto for the first year and they had come up with nothing. He had even accepted the Kumo alliance in hopes of flushing out this Juu. It had failed of course, but at least they had managed to stop the Hyūga kidnap.

Since then, he had long given up hope of actually finding this Juu person unless she decided to show herself. Which wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. And after what Naruto had revealed to him today, she was either more skilled than he had previously thought–to be able to sneak onto Kumo's drifting isle or was important enough to be granted access. He concluded that the former was more likely since if she was under Kumogakure's employment, they would have used her to kidnap Hinata instead. Neither sat well with him.

Still, it would ease his mind if they could just talk or if he could just find out what her motives were. After all, given how attached Naruto seemed to be about her, it would destroy the girl if he were to take Juu away from her. He brought his pipe out, lighting it with flame chakra and took a small puff, letting the narcotic ease his mind as he entered his building and back to his boring life of administration.

* * *

Hinata was worried. Naruto had been gone for almost an hour now and their lunch break was almost over. Poking her fingers together nervously, she asked Shino and Kiba.

"Ano, do you think Naruto-chan will be okay?"

Shino raised an eyebrow while Kiba snorted "Ha! Knowing him, it's probably something stupid. Maybe he pranked someone at training ground 44 or… wait, Naruto-chan?" Kiba suddenly sported a shit-eating grin.

Hinata reddened as she realised her blunder too late. "When did you realise?" Kiba pressed. Hinata fidgeted as she suddenly wished she could hide her face like Shino as she looked to him for help.

"I too am interested."

Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Hell yeah, Shino! I thought you and I were the only ones who knew Naruto's a girl, and she wanted to keep it quiet as a prank. So spill it. When?"

She cringed, as she found no mercy there. "r-re-recently."

Shino raised both eyebrows while Kiba blinked. Then his face dawned in realisation when he connected the dots. "You don't say?" Hinata's face reddened even more if possible. "You did? HA! HAHAHAHAH! HAHAHA! This is gold! AHAHAHA! Wait till I tell Naru… Hieee!" Kiba suddenly felt intense pain around the tenketsu of his shoulders as Hinata seemed to hold it in a death grip, leaking killer intent the two boys and Akamaru thought not possible from the timid girl.

"You will do no such thing Kiba-kun." Hinata intoned in a polite manner.

"I… I will do no such thing!" Kiba repeated nervously. He relaxed when Hinata released his shoulders though he winced a little when he examined it. It's definitely going to leave a bruise.

"Man, that's one mean grip you have there. So I take it that your little crush is over?"

Hinata turned red again "H-how?" She asked, mortified.

Kiba snorted. "I would have to be blind, deaf and possibly lose my sense of smell to not have noticed."

"W-was I that o-ob-vious?" Hinata stuttered.

"Heh, I think the only person who haven't notice are probably Naruto herself, and the Uchiha bitches."

Hinata relaxed visibly while Kiba continued "Besides, it's not like a big deal now that you found out she's a girl. I take it your fainting spell would be cured now?"

There was a moment of awkward silence as the two boys stared at the beet red girl. Kiba's eyes widened "No way… you're still…"

Luckily for her, Naruto chose that moment to burst back into the classroom. "Uzumaki Naruto! Back from Ramen break with the Hokage!" she exclaim cheerfully, earning some chuckle from her classmates.

When she sat down between Kiba and Shino, Kiba couldn't help but snicker, earning a curious look from Naruto and one that promised pain from Hinata. "Eto, What did I miss?"

Kiba tried to keep a straight face as he looked away quickly, "Nothing!" Naruto frowned, annoyed that her friend was keeping something secret from her. Unfortunately for Hinata, she was watching the wrong mole when the birthday boy spilled the beans. "Hinata found out."

"SHINO!" Hinata felt numb at her friend's betrayal.

"Oh? Found out about what?"

"Your gender."

"Oh. Heeh! That's great Hinata! I was beginning to fear you might be one of those who would never find out. You probably saw with your Byakugan right?"

That statement earned a nosebleed from Kiba and a light blush from Shino while Hinata looked like her world was about to end. "I mean I've read that the Tenketsu system of guys are different from girls, am I right Hinata? Ne, Hinata?"

A grinning Kiba pat her shoulder gently "I think you might have broken her Naruto."

"Eh, What did I do?"

This seemed to snap Hinata out of her shock, "O-Of course! That's what I saw! I didn't see anything else!" She yelped. She was saved again when the bell rang and Iruka and Mizuki entered the classroom.

"Alright, I want everybody out to the fields now for Taijutsu practice!"

Most of the boys cheered while a few of the girls grumbled. Iruka's sweat dropped at that. _How do they even have the aspiration to become Kunoichi when they hate Taijutsu?_

* * *

The students marched out to the academy grounds. Most of them were chatting enthusiastically, boasting who would beat whom today, which style was the best, what counters to use. Once everyone was out in the fields, they were separated into groups with one Chunin instructor for every five to six students.

Naruto looked longingly at her friends. Hailing from well-established Shinobi clans, each with their own unique styles, they had an edge over the other students who practiced the general form. She watched somewhat enviously as Kiba bounded towards the advanced section of the class with Hinata and Shino following in tow.

Feeling suddenly alone, she tried to shake away the feelings by doing some stretches and warming up exercises with the rest of the class before running through the general form a few times. After having done so, she approached one of the instructors.

"Neh, sensei do you think you could watch…"

"Ah… Uzumaki-san, I'm sorry but I'm kind of occupied here. Why don't you try Yarou-sensei's group?"

"Ah, Hai!" she tried not to let her disappointment show as she ran off in the opposite direction to the other instructor.

"Yarou-sensei, could you…"

"Naruto! Gomen, I'm rather tied down with all of them since Yana-sensei couldn't make it today, you might want to try elsewhere."

"But it wouldn't…"

"Neh, sensei am I holding this stance right?" one of the kids from the first year class enquired.

"Please, Uzumaki-san?"

"Haai…" Naruto walked away from the group dejectedly as she searched for another instructor. She winced at the sight of Mizuki-sensei. After that prank she pulled on him last time round, she doubt he would be willing to teach her. Also, Juu seemed to dislike him very much, though the fox never clarified as to why. Spotting the last available instructor for the beginner's section, she hurried over.

"Ano sensei, I was wondering if you can just watch me run through the stance and correct me if…" She faltered, as the instructor seemed to be ignoring her.

"Very good, now the important thing is your footwork. Make sure you shift more of your weight towards the back leg when…"

"Sensei!" Naruto was getting annoyed at the treatment she was getting when she suddenly felt herself leaking Juu's chakra. Alarmed she quickly hurried off to a corner. Hoping no one had felt anything amiss. The last thing she needed was a class full of students and instructor turning on her. Not to mention her friends. She shivered at the notion.

"_The hell, nee-chan! What was that about?"_

"…_**I'm sorry. It's just that their attitude pisses me off."**_

"_That's alright…"_

"_**It's not alright! I'm of no help either. I mean I can help you with Jutsu no problem, but Taijutsu is a bit trickier when I can't instruct you physically."**_

"_Look, Juu-nee. It's not your fault ok. You don't have to beat yourself up every time something like this happens. I never blamed you. Besides, I'm sure together we'll think of something."_

Juu smiled at the optimism of her charge. _**"You're right…"**_ She suddenly got an idea as she delved through her former memories. **Naruto** had initially tried to keep them separate, out of fear that he would lose his very own identity. Unfortunately, it had resulted in **Naruto **nearly losing control as the tailed-beast part started awakening and gaining independence.

It was only until recently,had **Naruto** started to truly accept and include the foreign memories, which was dubbed Juu or the _other_ memories into his own. It had been a strange and slow experience since the memory was vast. The result had been surprising as the **Naruto** consciousness was slowly influencing the _other _awakening memories, making it the dominant personality and giving rise to the Juu persona today. The slow process was still ongoing and the **Naruto** part still sometimes had a tendency to think of itself as separate.

"_**Hehe, come to think of it… give me a few more months and I think I probably could come up with a new form that might just suit us!"**_

"_Really? You're awesome, nee-chan!"_

"_**Don't be too happy though. A new untested form isn't all that great, and I wouldn't be able to correct you physically…"**_

"_Juu-nee…"_

"_**Yes, Naru-chan?"**_

"_Have I ever told you that you're such a killjoy?"_

* * *

Iruka dismissed the class 3 hours later and watched his tired students slowly worked their way back home. Taking this moment, he approached his most troublesome student. "Neh, Naruto. How long has this been going on?"

He was caught off guard when his student feigned ignorance "What do you mean, what has been going on, Iruka-sensei?" _**"Naruto…"**_

"Look Naruto, I don't know why you want to hide it, but why didn't you report it to me that none of the instructors were teaching you properly? You hadn't even gotten a turn at sparring."

"Hah! It took you a year to notice? What is it to you, huh? After all, you're the one who always pick on me in class. You always blame all the pranks on me first even when it was someone else who started it! You always chose the most difficult questions for me and make it look as if I'm stupid! I even got the class nickname "Dobe" courtesy of you! So why do you care now?" _**"Naruto, Iruka's just…" **__"Stay out of this Juu!"_

Iruka was taken aback. Come to think of it, the questions he had asked her in class were kind of among the most difficult. "Ah… I'm sorry, I didn't realise…"

"You sure as hell didn't!"

"Would you just let me finish? Heavens! Must we end up shouting at each other whenever we talk?"

Naruto blinked before looking away to hide a small chuckle "It would seem so… sensei…"

Iruka found himself smiling in spite of himself. "Now as I was saying, I'm sorry, Naruto. I didn't realise I was being so hard on you. The truth is… well… I see a lot of myself in you, you know. I used to be the same. No parents. No family. Pulling pranks for attention… Hard to believe I know, but I've been down that road, and I just wanted the best for you, you know, to see you to excel in where I've goofed off. I mean look at me, 23 and still Chunin…"

Naruto chuckled "Really? I was under the impression that you wanted to stay Chunin so you could stay and terrorize us Academy students."

"You cheeky brat!" Iruka scolded good-naturedly and tousled her hair. "Anyway, I hope you will trust me and give me a second chance. You can come to me if you need any help."

"And spend the whole day shouting again? No thanks! Whatever would the rest of the class do without you to guide them?" she said with sarcasm. "I don't think you'll have time to spare from the advanced classes anyway. Besides, I have an awesome home tutor!"

Iruka's eyes widened and so did Naruto's when she realised her blunder. _So, is she referring to the infamous Shinobi the Hokage had been asking us to look out for?_ Naruto tried to act as if nothing was wrong. His first thought was to try and pry more information out of her, but then reasoned that if she would be tight lipped even towards Sandaime-sama, the chances of her spilling the beans to an academy teacher which she barely trust was pretty much nil.

Iruka decided to play along and scratched the back of his head "Haha, you're right, it wouldn't do if we started another shouting match in the middle of class. But just remember, Naruto. My door is always open."

Naruto smiled as they reached the gates. "You know, Juu-nee was right. You're not that bad after all, sensei!" With that, she darted back home before he could say anything further.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

Shikamaru felt glad when he and Chōji finally parted with Ino. She had hurried off to help her mother in their flower shop. He simply grunted noncommittally when she uttered a quick goodbye and left. The two boys walked leisurely in silence.

As they approached the Nara ranch, they ran into his father, Shikaku.

"You boys might want find somewhere else to hang out. Your mom is in one of those mood again."

"Troublesome." There goes his plan of sleeping in on his bed for the rest of the evening.

So instead of heading home, he simply skirted around the property into a deserted clearing. Wasting little time, he found a shaded spot and lay down onto his back, folding his arms into a makeshift pillow, not even bothering to look at Chōji who followed suit. While not as comfortable as his bed, at least it would spare him the ceaseless nagging from his mother and of course, there was the lulling view of drifting clouds and chirping birds.

* * *

**Early Afternoon, Hyūga Estate**

Hinata and Neji arrived home with little incident as the lazy afternoon streets were mostly deserted. They were greeted by some of the servants as they made their way into the main compound.

"…nk you for taking up this offer, Yūhi-san. I'll leave my daughter to you."

Hinata stopped dead in her tracks when she heard her father while Neji frowned at the Shōji. "Come in, Hinata. You may leave Neji-kun." Neji stiffened and stood by his cousin side but relented when Hinata shook her head furiously. Casting one last worried look at his cousin, Neji retreated back to his quarters.

Taking a deep steadying breath, Hinata pulled open the Shōji door and entered. Her father greeted her with his usual stern glare. Beside him stood a beautiful Kunoichi with an untamed, black shoulder-length hair with eyes as red as her ruby red lips. Hinata found herself being appraised by the woman in question in interest and tried not to fidget under the combined scrutiny of her father and the stranger.

"This is my eldest, Hinata. I leave her in your care from today onwards. I shall leave the explanation to you." With that, her father left the room, leaving her alone with the strange Kunoichi.

Hinata looked apprehensively at the woman. "Yare yare, he could have at least introduced me." Hinata was surprised at her frankness. "Well now, Hinata-chan was it? I'm Yūhi Kurenai. Hajimemashite."

* * *

**Late Afternoon, Inuzuka Kennels**

Kiba bounded home as fast as he could after getting the steak from the store. Just as he was about to enter the front porch, he spied his sister waving frantically from her bedroom window.

"Heh, relax sis! I remembered the steak!" he yelled back, holding up the grocery bag as emphasis. He was perplexed however when his sister face palmed and duck inside her window. "Wonder what's gotten into her, Akamaru." Instead of replying however, Akamaru seemed to growl uneasily as he squirmed inside his jacket.

Kiba raised an eyebrow at both his sister and his best friend's behaviour. Pushing open the door, he called out "Tadaima!"

He froze however when he saw his mother standing crossed arm in front of him with the stack of letters his sister showed him earlier that morning. "Okaeri, Kiba. Okaeri."

It was then Kiba learnt to never doubt Akamaru or Hana again when they're acting weird.

* * *

**Late Afternoon, Aburame Enclosure**

Shino arrived home to his clan compound. He made his way down to the habitat enclosure, nodding his head occasionally to acknowledge fellow clansmen. Upon arriving at his own personal room beside the enclosure, he took out his birthday present and set it on the desk, staring at the larva in fascination.

He did not even bother to look up when his father knocked at his door and entered.

"Good evening, Shino. Happy birthday." The man placed an insect collecting kit down on the table next to his son. He was, however curious when his son barely looked up from the log on the table when he said his thanks.

"You seemed rather preoccupied there."

"Uzumaki-san gave me a birthday present."

Now his curiosity was spiked and genuinely impressed. "Oh, she remembered?" Shino simply nodded as he continued to stare at the log. Shibi followed his son's gaze and froze when he saw the larva poked out from it. "Is that…?" He pushed his shades up.

"A Kumo Goliath Stag Beetle larva." Shino affirmed.

"Fascinating." Shino simply nodded in agreement.

That was the start of the many hours the two men would spend in front of the log for the remainder of that day.

* * *

**Evening, Uchiha District**

Sasuke panted as he hurried home before sundown. Cursing as he nearly lost track of time with his extra training. It wasn't like he had a curfew or anything. Going home after sundown simply brought back painful memories.

"Tadaima!" He greeted as he entered the door.

"Ah, Sasuke. Okaeri." Mikoto greeted warmly. "You're a little later than usual. Were you out doing extra practice?"

"It's training, mom!"

"Alright, alright. Dinner's ready. Go wash your hand while I go get your father."

The Uchiha were soon assembled before the dining table. Mikoto tried her best to liven up the mood by engaging in small talks. "So, did you have Taijutsu practice today?"

"Yes, mom." Sasuke tried not to grimace. The reason why he was out training his ass off was he nearly lost to Hinata in a bout. Despite that, he gave his father a hopeful look. "I won all the sparring match."

Fugaku simply chewed absentmindedly on his food, showing no indication that he heard his son. Miffed, Mikoto kicked her husband from under the table, startling the disheveled man. He looked up from his food at Mikoto who was giving him a withering glare before looking towards his youngest son, his eyes lingered on his face briefly before looking away. "That is very good, Sasuke. Keep it up."

Mikoto sighed softly as the remainder of the dinner continued in unbearable silence.

* * *

**Nighttime, Outskirts of Konoha**

"Haaaaaaaah!" ***Thump* *Crash***

Naruto gave a pained groan after falling off the tree for the umpteenth time. Pulling herself up to a seated position, she glared angrily at the tree.

"_**That's enough for the day, Naruto. You've done well enough."**_

"_But nee-chan! I barely made 5 steps difference from yesterday!"_

"_**Baka! That was to be expected. You only just started two days ago. Frankly I'm surprised with your progress. It takes most people half a week to reach this height! Besides, it's getting late and you need your rest. I don't want to hear you grumbling tomorrow when I wake you up again because you didn't get enough sleep. "**_

"_Nee-chan…"_

"_**What?"**_

"_Three days is half a week…"_

"…_**Damare!"**_

With practiced ease, Naruto let herself slip into her mindscape. "Neh nee-chan. why are we spending so much time with this chakra control exercise. Shouldn't we work more on Taijutsu or even the Bunshin no Jutsu?" She asked, leaning onto the warmth of her sister who started grooming her.

Juu smiled and stopped licking her wet mop for a moment. **"I would very much like to. But I can't really teach you in here when you don't retain any muscle memory. Perception in here is also vastly different from out there. It's good enough that you know how to punch, block and kick properly for now. I promise to work on the new form as soon as possible." **She chuckled as she felt her host's excitement.

"**Maybe tonight when you're sleeping if you behave." **She added teasingly.

"Mou, stop treating me like a kid."

"**Ara, but you are! But seriously, you should never look down on chakra control exercises. Believe me when I tell you that you'll need very good chakra control for the Jutsu I'll be teaching you. Besides, this exercise helps a lot with your stamina, leg and core muscle strength. All of which are vital for the style I have in mind. So you can think of it as a type of foundation training. Not to mention it will help with the Bunshin no Jutsu in the long run too."**

"Really? Why didn't you say so earlier!"

"**Cause you didn't ask."**

Excited, Naruto snapped out of her trance and stood again before the foot of the tree. _**"Naruto…"**_ _"Nee-chan, I need to do this one last time. Please?"_

"_**Alright, one last time and we're calling it a day."**_

Taking a steadying breath, the prospect of finally learning something new like her fox-form filled her with confidence and excitement. Suddenly feeling as if she could accomplish anything, she dashed up the tree. Five. Ten. Twelve. Seventeen. Twenty-four. Thirty-two! Her heart beat in excitement. She was going to reach the top with just a few more steps!

Her excitement cost her dearly however as her concentration faltered for a second and she felt herself crashing down. "Itai!"

Juu was surprised. _**"That was great! Keep it up and you might be able to master it by tomorrow then!"**_

Naruto grinned giddily at the praise. _"Well, if I can…"_

"_**NO! That was the last one for tonight. You need your rest."**_

Her grin quickly changed into a pout. _"You're no fun, nee-chan."_ Picking herself up, she slowly made her way home. _"Eto, can I stop by Ichiraku for a bowl of Ramen?"_

"_**It's close to midnight. I don't think Teuchi-jii stays open that long…"**_

"_Just checking, nee-chan. Just checking."_

"_**Brat!"**_


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Refer to prologue**

**Author's note: Refer author profile**

* * *

"…_Nee-chan…"_

There was anger. Anger at the humans. Fragile little upstarts whose greed knows no bound. Incessant anger that blotted out all coherent thoughts. At what though, she could not quite remember.

"_Jū-Nee!"_

Then there was pain. Pain beyond anything humans could possibly imagine. Pain of essence being forcefully ripped from flesh, blood and bone. Her mind reeled from the shock, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"_nee!... up, Jū-nee!"_

But most of all, there was betrayal, as it dwarfed the anger and pain in comparison. There was the fear and humiliation of its helplessness. The anger at the treachery and with it came hate. Seething unforgiving hate towards that man who called himself its priest! _Priest? What priest? That doesn't make sense! And who is that screaming?_

"…_YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP NOW, J__Ū NEE-CHAN__!"_

_That voice… Naruto? Why is she yelling…? Kuso! Trouble?_

Jū snapped awake, searching the area in panic for threats but found none. It took her a good full minute to realise that the screams had been coming from her, not Naruto who was trying to snap her out of the dream. _No, _she decided. _Not a dream, but a memory. Other memories. _Jū frowned. It had been a while since she had one. Not since she thought she had assimilated all of them. She felt an uneasy shiver up her spine. But they certainly weren't the fox's.

"Nee-chan, please, you have to wake up!" A frantic Naruto whimpered from the top of her muzzle. Within a blink of an eye, the giant fox transformed into a blonde haired woman, holding the clearly upset younger blonde in a tight and comforting embrace, whispering soothing words over and over. "It's alright. It's alright. I'm here… shh…"

"Alright my foot!" the small figure yelled when she calmed down enough to push her sister away. "What the hell was that? I was worried sick when your chakra suddenly went wild!" Naruto exclaimed, eliciting a wince from Jū.

"… and If I hadn't manage to suppress your chakra, half the village would be onto us like shit on Velcro!"

"Naruto!" Jū was about to chastise for her use of language before the implication of what Naruto said sunk in. "Wait, you managed to suppress my chakra?" Jū asked, both surprised and impressed.

The upset blonde continued her tirade "Well, duh! Else we would be running from half the village already, and don't change the subject! I'm still waiting for an answer!"

Despite the situation, Jū found herself reining in her laughter as Naruto fixated her with her best stern look complete with crossed arm and a pout. It was times like these that made her felt glad to be in a mess like this. _I suppose this is what having a family is like._ She mused.

Giving her best reassuring smile, she hugged her younger sister again, "I'm sorry for causing you trouble. I'm not a very reliable nee-chan, ne?" Her smile grew wider when as she expected, the younger blonde blushed and opened her mouth to voice her protest, a protest that was swiftly silenced by a finger to her lips. "Iya, you have every right to be upset, Naruto. It was… Just a nightmare. A bad dre-… memory… I'll be alright." Somehow, she found herself unable to write the whole jumbled thing off as a dream.

"Do you… want to talk about it?" came the muffled and hesitating query.

"No. Well, not now, but perhaps some other time. Thanks for asking though, Naruto-chan. It means a lot to me." They held onto each other for a while longer before Jū had to pull away from a reluctant Naruto.

"Ah, it's getting late. You should get up now. I'm sorry to wake you up so suddenly."

Smiling slyly, Naruto drawled, "Well, you could always teach me a new jutsu!"

"Why you sly little fox!"

Naruto giggled uncontrollably as her sister grabbed her in a playful noogie. "I do learn from the best!" She managed to choke out from her own peals of laughter.

Jū ruffled her hair one last time before sighing in feign resignation, "Alright, since you've done so well lately and as you've demonstrated earlier being capable of suppressing my chakra, I guess I can teach you something new."

"It's not a Jutsu though, mind." She added hastily.

"Who cares? It's something new! When do we start? Can we start now? Please! Please! Please! Please! Please~!"

Jū rolled her eyes before agreeing weakly, "Hai, hai." And winced as Naruto whooped in excitement and started bouncing around the room to get ready. She could not help but chuckle at her antics. _Since when did I start feeling so old?_

* * *

**Late Morning**

**Konohagakure**

Naruto wiggled restlessly in excitement in her fox form as she listened raptly to her nee-chan explaining the basis of Senchakra and how to sense it. A small part of her couldn't help but be in awe of Jū's knowledge. The things she had been taught thus far were things that she had never heard or read of before, making her wonder about the scant few stories Jū had shared with her about her travels when she was free, what it was like to see her go all out.

"… _**Now since I'm adept at this, I'll draw in a small amount of Senchakra so that you can know what to feel for, and remember no trying this in your human form yet until I say you're ready unless you want to end up as a rock. Any questions?"**_

Naruto stopped trying to reach the itch on the back of her ears with her hind legs,_ "Eto, you said I'll turn into a rock if I draw in too much Senchakra, how would I know how much is too much?"_

"_**Like I said before, I'm just teaching you what to look for, opening your senses to the Senchakra, not to actually draw on it. That's still too dangerous for you yet, and if you happen to draw in some, I could easily flush them out using my chakra, but you'll probably be stuck as your fox form for a while with the influx of my chakra, which is why we're doing this in the fox form."**_

"_Yosh! Let's get started then!" Naruto enthused, eager to start._

"_**Hai. Remember, you need to stay still and focused when trying to sense or gather senchakra, and don't try to draw in any."**_ Jū cautioned

Naruto sighed, "_You're such a nag at times, nee-chan." _She groused before giving Jū a reassuring squeeze. "_Wakata."_

"_**Alright, stay focused, I'll start now."**_

Naruto closed her eyes and focused all her attention onto her navel, feeling both her spiritual and physical energies. For a few minute, she thought she wasn't getting it until she felt a sudden influx of alien energy. It was very subtle. She probably wouldn't have noticed it being there if Jū hadn't told her to concentrate.

Cautiously, she reached out with her own chakra to get a sense of this Senchakra. She was filled with awe when her chakra came into contact with the foreign energy.

It was like she could suddenly see, as if she had been blind her whole life as she could feel the sunlight on the leaves, the water moving through the trees, the insects crawling up the trunks, the grass bending from the gentle caress of the breeze, the very last dew evaporating from the blades of grass, even the tickle of worms digging beneath the ground. Who knew this boring patch of ground is actually so alive?

"_**NARUTO!"**_

Jū's voice shocked her back to her senses as she blinked dazedly, finding herself looking at a worried Jū in human form inside the seal, shaking her rather roughly. "Eh, what is it, nee-chan?"

"You weren't responding and I got worried! Is everything okay?"

Naruto blinked in confusion before grinning "That was amazing! I could sense everything around me! The trees the grass even the ants and water! Ne, is this how you can sense everyone? It's so awesome! I betcha we can sneak up on Jiji now, dattebane!" She looked to her nee-chan for approval but was caught off guard by the sudden tight embrace Jū had around her.

"Ano, Nee-chan?" a confused Naruto ventured before Jū released her again. She felt doubly confused when Jū fixed her with an unreadable expression. "Did you know how long you were out for?"

"A… a few seconds?" she volunteered uncertainly.

"You were out for one solid hour." Naruto winced. No wonder Jū was frantic.

"Ah…" she felt at loss for words, though it made her happy to see Jū that worried for her. Still, it made her feel bad for making her worry at the same time. "I guess that makes us even huh?" which earned her a light cuff to the head.

"Baka Naruto!"

Naruto giggled a bit before noticing the catch in Jū's breath. "Nee-chan?"

That seemed to snap Jū out of her thoughts, "Ah, gomen. Just… old memories."

"A-Anyway, since you seemed to have grasped the chakra very well, lets see if you can try to sense it on your own. I'll try to guide you as you need."

Naruto beamed brightly, eager to impress her precious person, she sat down again to still her emotions and focus. It didn't take her long this time to sense the chakra now that she had a vague idea of what to look for, but it still took slightly longer than the first time. This time however, she pulled back as soon as she could once she felt that she had established a connection with the Senchakra just in case.

"Ne, how was that?" she asked expectantly at Jū. She couldn't help but feel satisfied at the surprised look on her nee-chan's face.

"Well… I guess you more or less got the hang of it." Before mumbling softly to herself, "Sensei was right, it's no fun teaching a prodigy."

"But we'll stop at that, I don't want you to risk trying to gather Senchakra yet. It's still too dangerous, but you can practice getting used to the chakra. It should help when the time comes to actually draw upon it but for now it's very helpful at detection. Well, since you'll be stuck as a fox for a while longer, you should start practicing a bit and this time try to use it while still moving."

Jū smiled wanly as Naruto, eager to impress, already started darting as fast as she could through the woods, using only the Senchakra to guide her.

"_**Naruto, look out!"**_

Giddy with excitement and overconfidence, Naruto was too focused on the things far ahead of her to pay attention to her footing when she stepped on a loose branch before crashing and tumbling into a clearing.

Jū wince before shaking her head. _That baka…_ Her eyes widened in surprise however when she realised Naruto had come to a stop at the back of a very familiar presence.

Naruto whimpered a little from the pain of the fall. However, before she could pick herself up, she felt someone grabbing her by the scruff of her neck before she came face to face with a one-eyed masked shinobi. It only took a cursory glance from Naruto to recognise him as a Jōnin.

The Shinobi seemed to study her with a bored gaze before suddenly pulling his other hand out from his pocket. Alarmed, Naruto braced herself for the strike.

"Yo!"

Naruto would have sweat dropped if she was able to until she heard a soft chuckle from Jū.

"_Ne, Jū-nee, do you know this weirdo?" _Naruto unconsciously whispered in a hushed tone.

"_**It's alright, there's nothing to fear from him and you don't have to whisper. He can't hear us you know."**_

"_Yes, but well…. His chakra…"_

"_**Heh, so you noticed huh? Certainly not ordinary huh. This is the Copy-nin Kakashi Hatake. The man who is said to have copied over a thousand Jutsu." **_Jū introduced nostalgically.

Naruto blinked as the copy-nin held her in a more comfortable position on his arm while searching his pocket and offering her a dog biscuit.

Naruto squirmed as the treat was shoved in front of her while Jū laughed. _**"Ne, It's alright. Just play along Naruto."**_

Heeding Jū's advice, Naruto tentatively took a small nibble from the treat. It tasted alright and she slowly munched on the rest of the biscuit, not wanting to be fed more dog food than necessary. Kiba would never let her live it down if he ever found out.

Thankfully the Jōnin did not force any more treats down her throat, but that didn't stop him from doing something worse.

"What brings a kit like yourself out into this part of the village?" Kakashi asked, mostly to himself as he gently stroked Naruto behind her ears. "I hope you're not lost are you?" Naruto growled indignantly, earning a chuckle from the Jōnin.

"I guess I'll call you… Akazukin. How would you like that?" Mistaking Naruto's look of abject horror for approval, he nodded. "Akazukin it is then." Before setting Naruto on his head.

Jū by this point was laughing her ass off in the seal. "_Shut it, Jū nee!"_

"_**Aww, but Akazukin is a beautiful name."**_ She teased half-heartedly, causing her cute little imouto to puff her cheeks out and blush. "_Damare!" _before tuning out Jū.

Naruto wiggled herself into a comfortable position on top of the Jōnin's head the way she had seen Akamaru position himself on Kiba as the Jōnin moved to the centre of the clearing.

Naruto tilt her head curiously as they stopped in front of a large crystal shaped stone monument.

"Ne, Obito, Rin, Sensei… I brought a visitor with me today. This is Akazukin. Akazukin, say hello to my team mates and sensei."

Not really sure what was going on, Naruto decided to play along, "Yip yip!"

"Heh, she's a bright one isn't she? Anyway, things are as usual in the village… You know, the usual silly challenges Gai keeps making up. Sandaime has been…"

* * *

**Late Evening**

**Naruto's Apartment**

Stepping out of the shower, Naruto slowly toweled herself dry.

Unable to stand the silence anymore, Jū prompted. _**"Naruto, you've been quiet this whole while. Is everything alright?"**_

"Ah, Nee-chan. Gomen, I didn't mean to worry you… it's just that… that man… Hatake-san, H-he's one of otousan's student isn't he?"

Inside the seal, Jū sat upright. This was the first time Naruto ever referred to the Yondaime Hokage as her father. Then again, they rarely ever talk about her parents. Jū weighed her words carefully, _**"Hai. That he is."**_ It was time like these Jū find herself unable to read her young charge.

Putting on her clothes, a light t-shirt and shorts, Naruto walked towards the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water before sitting down by the window, gazing out into the village. Taking a sip from the glass, she poured the rest of its content over a small potted plant.

"He seemed lonely."

Jū smiled. _Ah, so that's what it is._

"Can we go there again sometime?"

"_**Of course, Naruto. Of course."**_


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Refer to prologue**

**Author's note: Refer author profile**

* * *

**October 13, 4 years later.**

**Noon. Konoha Academy.**

Iruka looked up from his clipboard, giving his student a worried glance. Her scores on all the previous tests had been mediocre. He sighed heavily. If she doesn't pull through on this one, she would fail.

He had been very worried when the usually energetic and rowdy blonde had returned at the start of the semester considerably subdued. He had caught her sleeping again in class on the first day and instead of the usual shouting match that would have ensued, she simply shrugged and grunted when he gave her a week's worth of detention.

He had tried unsuccessfully to talk to her about it. She seemed to just tone out everything around her, paying less attention both in and outside of classes and pretty much bordering on flunking out.

"Okay Naruto, you just need to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu and it'll be over and done with." Iruka tried to sound encouraging.

He was surprised however when the girl nonchalantly performed a half ram seal and duplicated herself thrice over. "Th-That's very good Naruto! I guess you've been working hard after all!" Iruka praised and obviously relieved. "So that's a pass then. Mizuki?" He asked his colleague as he inspected the Bunshin for flaws and found none.

If Iruka had paid attention to his friend, he would've noticed his odd behaviour as he muttered "Feh, of course…"

Iruka smiled proudly as he presented Naruto with her Hitai-ate. "Congratulations! You're now a Genin of Konohagakure." His elation however, was short-lived and one-sided when the blonde simply stared blankly at the headband before leaving the room silently.

* * *

**Outside the classroom.**

"Uchiha Sasuke." The girls squealed and chattered excitedly amongst themselves as the recognised class genius was called into the exam room. They were surprised however when the reigning dead last, Uzumaki Naruto came out of said room with a Hitai-ate. Instantly, even the worst amongst them felt their confidence boosted tenfold. _If the dobe can do it, so can I!_

Naruto simply ignored the crowd like usual and made her way out to the foyer of the academy.

Shino was the first to notice and greet her. "Congratulations, Naruto." A scarab-like beetle the size of a cap clicked its mandibles together excitedly as it flew from its perch on top of Shino's head right into the arms of the daydreaming blonde, nearly knocking the air out of her.

"Oof!" The blonde choked in surprise. "Ah, Yuzu! Nice to see you too." She patted the orange coloured stag beetle gently. "Thank you, Shino."

Hearing Naruto's voice, Shikamaru turned around and raised his eyebrow when he saw the blonde and her Hitai-ate. Her less than enthusiastic expression did not escape his keen observation. "I see you passed the troublesome exam too huh." While holding up his own Hitai-ate and looking at it with disdain. "One more troublesome thing to have to put on every morning."

Chōji simply offered her some chips, which she refused, knowing better than to get between an Akimichi and their food even when it's offered willingly. "*Munch* well, you could always wear them the way I do" he said to his friend through a mouthful of chips, pointing at his headband which was already sewn onto the bandanna on his head.

Naruto's eyebrow and the corner of her lips twitched at the odd looking bandana. _Must. Not. Say. Underpants!_

"Ha! You made it, Naruto! I knew you had it in you." A grinning Kiba slapped her hard on the back. She sighed in relief at the timely distraction as she was just seconds away from blurting out something far from polite.

"Na-Naruto-kun, c-congratulations!" Hinata followed close behind, cheek blushing pink as she poked her fingers together bashfully, and eyes not quite meeting the blonde's.

"Heh, you think there's a chance of us being on a team together? We would so kick ass!"

"Ehehe, yeah… yeah… that would be nice indeed…" Naruto said distractedly as she scratched the back of her head.

"A-ano, Naruto-kun… " Hinata began shyly before taking a deep breath and gathering her courage to look Naruto in the eye. "Would you…" her speech faltered as she realised the object of her affection was already on her way out of the academy, causing her to fall into silent depression for missing her chance again while at the same time, sharing a worried look with her friends.

Kiba sighed at Naruto's retreating figure. "Man… and I thought graduating would lift her spirits somewhat…" Akamaru barked in agreement while Yuzu perched itself back on Shino's head, buzzing sadly.

* * *

**Outside Konoha Academy**

Hiruzen smiled when he spied the 4'10" figure clad in bright orange walking out of the Academy with her Hitai-ate in tow and made his way towards her.

"Good afternoon, Naruto-kun."

The blonde jumped, his voice obviously startling her. "Ah! Jiji!"

Hiruzen had to suppress a sigh. Her behaviour of late had been worrying. He had been hoping to put off this talk, especially having learnt over the past few years that mentioning anything concerning Jū around Naruto was taboo. While the girl had not denied her existence, she hadn't been willing to talk about her either.

He had procrastinated long enough, he decided, as the girl will be an active Shinobi of the village in few days' time. He could not risk having her being distracted while on duty.

"Come Naruto-kun, let's head over to Ichiraku's. We'll celebrate your graduation." Her face lit up instantly.

"You're the best, Jiji!" Hiruzen chuckled, glad that some things still stayed the same.

The pair soon found themselves seated comfortably at the ramen stall. Hiruzen gave Teuchi a knowing look. The latter took the hint and pulled Ayame away to give them some privacy. Like others, the ramen stand owner and his daughter were among those who were concerned over Naruto's apparent change in behaviour.

Hiruzen smiled fondly at the blonde who was devouring her ramen like there was no tomorrow. "Congratulations Naruto. You made an old man very proud today."

Naruto stopped eating and wiped her mouth. "Ah… Thank you…" she replied, smiling wanly.

"You don't seem to be happy about it."

"Iie, Jiji… It's not that. I'm glad to be a Genin, and a proud Jinchuriki of Konoha!"

If her choice of words troubled the Hokage, he showed no signs of it, instead opting to study her troubled expression carefully.

"It's just that…" Naruto bit her lips thoughtfully. "Well, I just wished that Nee-chan would've been able to share today with me."

Hiruzen grimaced internally. He had been right to worry about Jū's influence over her after all. He chose his words carefully.

"You know, the Shodai once said we are like saplings, and those we encounter, the elements. In our lives, we are destined to meet many people. Some of them great, while others not so. Regardless, each of them will leave an impression on us. And it is those left by the ones closest to us that carve deepest. They serve as a reminder that part of the person is always with us, even when they're away. Just like how the elements would carve grooves and twists barks of a growing sapling, and those features are what would eventually define the tree…"

Naruto nodded empathically while tuning out most of Hiruzen's speech. She was sure she had heard a similar version from Iruka countless of times before and picked up her bowl to drain the deliciously salty soup.

"…and it is only when they're no longer with us that we truly make them a part of ourselves…"

Naruto nearly spat out the entire bowl of soup when her mind unconsciously registered what her Jiji was saying. "W-Wh-What are you getting at, old man?"

"Look Naruto, I know it's hard but you have to accept it. I won't allow you to be put into a team if you're still feeling from your loss." Hiruzen stated sternly, not wanting another Tsunade on his hands.

Naruto stared at him in shock and began to tremble. He cursed inwardly, hoping he had not jump the gun too early.

"Ah… ha… HA! HAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA! You think Jū-nee had… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA… Oh! This is so good! HAHAHA! I haven't heard such a good one in a while! HAHAHA WAIT TILL I TELL HER ABOUT THIS! HAHAHAHA!" The blonde began laughing so hard she fell out of her stool.

Hiruzen was taken aback, "Y-You mean she's not…?"

A still shaking Naruto picked herself up from the ground, trying hard to suppress her giggling. "Of course not! Jū-nee is not that lame, Dattebane!" Instantly, the village leader felt 10 years older, feeling every bit the wise fool.

He had thought he was right this time too, judging from the reports from his ANBU of Naruto spending more time training alone and her subdued behavior, but it seemed he had yet again drawn another false conclusion about this Jū-nee. He wasn't sure he should be glad that she wasn't the reason Naruto was feeling down or be pissed that the mysterious foreign nin had once again managed to wound his pride as a Kage.

"But you are right, Jiji. I've been moping around too much haven't I? Sorry, I must have worried everyone. No, Jū-nee is fine. It's just that something came up and she had to be away for a while and I miss her so much." She unconsciously fingered her seal before smiling brightly back at the Hokage, "I promise I'll stay focused on duty though! So don't you worry anymore, Jiji!"

Hiruzen couldn't help but smile, glad to finally have the girl back to her usual energetic self. "Very well, Naruto. I need to get back to work now so enjoy your break and don't forget your team placement will take place the day after." He tousled her hair before leaving the blonde to her own devices, returning to his office through a Shunshin.

* * *

**Midnight, Outskirts of Konoha.**

Naruto drew quick shallow breaths as she leaned against a Konoha Ironbark. Sweat glistened off her skin, illuminated by the dim light of distant stars and her warm breath fogging the cold night air. Scowling at her slow progress, she considered performing another set of what few kata of the full form she had learnt from Jū when her fingers brushed against a groove on the bark.

She smiled nostalgically at the kunai cut that she had left on it when she first started her tree climbing exercise. It reminded her of Jū's constant nagging at her to rest whenever it got close to midnight. _Elements huh_ she mused.

Slipping calmly into her seal, she found herself standing before the familiar set of massive gate. Tiptoeing and stretching out with a hand, she fondly caressed the cold grey muzzle of her most precious person. Warmth and happiness filled her as she felt the familiar chakra pulsing strongly underneath.

"Ne, Nee-chan. I hope you'll wake up soon." Her soft voice echoed gently in the vast chamber.

The huge majestic form of her Nee-chan lay curled up by the gates, tailed curled around herself and nuzzled comfortably between her muzzle and tails was a giant version of a gama plushy Naruto had somehow managed to smuggle in for her Nee-chan. Her usual bright orange coat was now a shade of dull blue-grey, motes of soft yellow specs drifts lazily throughout the chamber casting a warm glow, giving her a tranquil appearance.

But as usual, there was no reply, leaving a painful feeling of loneliness in her heart. She would have thought her dead if not for the steady flow of chakra she could feel and the fact that Jū herself had warned Naruto of her impending state of dormancy.

Naruto had panicked when she found out Jū had been having more and more frequent reoccurring nightmares since her 11th birthday. She never did wanted to talk about them although she had assured Naruto that it was only temporary and she just needed a long rest that she had been trying to put off. That she would wake up in a few months' time. Despite her trust and faith in Jū, Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of loss and emptiness the day she finally "slept".

"You're missing out on a lot of things, Jū-nee. I'll be getting my new team soon. I wonder what they'll be like." Naruto smiled as she tried to imagine her nee-chan's response before sighing softly. "And should I let them know about you?" She wondered aloud.

Up till now, she had been keeping Jū's identity a secret between the two of them. For one, Jū herself thought it was a neat prank while she herself didn't feel like sharing Jū with anyone else.

Perhaps if she had been honest with herself, she would've admitted that she was afraid Jū would be taken away from her. A very silly notion she thought, since that would require killing her, but with a nine-tails turned ten-tails, who knew what sort of panic it may cause. She had been her very first friend after all. Smiling contentedly at the nostalgic memories, she made up her mind and decided to call it a day.

That was when shouting and sounds of battle pulled her out of her trance. Her eyes snapped open, her slightly oblong pupil dilated and she felt her sense of smell increase tenfold. Picking up the direction of the conflict, she deftly tree jumped towards it.

"Mizuki! Give it up! It doesn't have to be this way. You know you wouldn't be able to keep running with half the village's Shinobi on your trail! I'm sure if we return to the Hokage and ask for pardon, we could work something out!" Iruka shouted after deflecting a few kunai from his friend.

Mizuki hesitated, "… You're right Iruka. What was I thinking, stealing the scroll? D-do you think Sandaime-sama would overlook this?"

Iruka slowly approached his friend "Of course. Hiruzen-sama is a forgiving man. I'm sure as long as you returned the scroll personally and ask for forgiveness, we could work something out."

"You're right Iruka. I should return it. You'll come with me right?" Mizuki held out his hand.

Smiling, Iruka reached out for his friend. He realised his mistake a little too late however, when his fingers slipped through the hand and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. _Bunshin!_ Spinning around a little too late, he managed to avoid a kunai to his kidney but it still pierced deep into his abdomen beneath the ribs, nearly puncturing his lung. "Kuso!" Iruka swore and coughed out blood before dropping to his knees.

Mizuki stood grinning over Iruka. "_You know you wouldn't be able to keep running with half the village's Shinobi on your trail!" _He mocked before spitting at his friend.

"That pessimistic outlook you have and your lack of ambition makes me sick. Give it back to the Hokage? You have no idea what you're talking about. Why would I do that when after learning the contents of this scroll, I would possess enough power to rival a Kage! This is the Shodai's personal scroll, holding all the repertoire of Jutsu the man knew as well as legendary artifacts he came across. Only a spineless and visionless fool like you would ever think of returning something as valuable as this without staking your life for it."

He brutally kneed Iruka in the guts, causing him to cough up more blood and tearing his wound further. Mizuki raised his kunai "Now, hurry up and die!"

Before he could bring his hands down for the fatal blow, his eyes picked up an orange blur out of the corner of his vision and before his mind could register it, a knee smashed into his jaw, nearly shattering it in the process and causing him to drop the scroll while he was sent hurling back several dozen feet.

The two men were shocked to find Naruto holding onto the Scroll of Seals once they recovered enough to look.

"NA-NARUTO!" A surprised Iruka sputtered through mouthful of blood. His mind working a mile minute trying to sort out what just happened.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei, did you see my flying knee kick? Am I awesome or what?"

Iruka cursed for the second time that night. Of all the times she could have picked to turn back to her old self, it had to be now. "What are you doing out here? Take the scroll and Run!"

Mizuki spat out a broken tooth along with some blood and snarled angrily. "Give me back the scroll, demon spawn!"

Naruto giggled and twirled the hefty scroll around playfully. "You forgot to say please!" She taunted in a singsong voice. Losing his patience, Mizuki started spinning a large shuriken that he carried on his back.

Iruka was desperate. "Naruto! Run away! What are you thinking? You're no match for a Chūnin!" He watched in horror as Mizuki hurled the spinning shuriken at Naruto.

Naruto simply grinned and said "Catch!" before carelessly tossing the Scroll of Seals to Iruka. He was stunned when Naruto skillfully performed a back flip and landed on the heavy shuriken dead on its center, effectively stopping its spin and trajectory.

Seeing this, Mizuki reached for his second shuriken and was preparing to throw when Naruto suddenly appeared behind him. _Fast!_ Both Chūnin thought as Mizuki barely managed to dodge a downward slash from his own shuriken. _Shit! When did she get this skilled! She barely passed her Taijutsu in class!_

He only had just enough time to regain his balance when Naruto, displaying an amazing feat of agility, somersaulted over him right after she just landed. She was spinning almost as fast as an Akimichi's Nikudan Sensha along with the shuriken, aiming for his head. Again, he barely managed to dodge the strike, but the shuriken managed to bite deep into his shoulder.

Iruka was dumbfounded. He would have never imagined that Naruto was this skilled in Taijutsu.

Mizuki cursed and dropped his shuriken for a kunai, his shoulder injury preventing him from effectively using the weapon. He smirked however when Naruto discarded her shuriken as well. "Cocky aren't we? You think by getting one lucky shot you'll have the upper hand? Think again! I'm a Chūnin for a reason!"

The statement caused Iruka to worry. It was true. While Naruto may have drawn first blood, Mizuki was still a Chūnin and was larger, stronger and more experienced compared to Naruto who was just a freshly minted Genin. He tried to stand up to help, but with the heavy scroll weighing him down, he found that he couldn't move much without tearing his stomach wound open.

Naruto grinned back at him and slipped three kunai each between her knuckles on both fist before holding them together in front of her in a fist, settling into a stance neither man recognized. "I guess we'll just have to see don't we? You should be honored, Mizuki-sensei, to be the first person I test my new form against, Dattebane."

In truth, Naruto was just putting on a front. Inwardly, she was a little worried. While she had been faring well against the Chūnin so far, she was very tired from hours of training beforehand and after hurrying over to the scene, exhausted. Not a good combination at all. Steeling her resolve, she clenched her fists well. _Better end this as quickly as possible._

Mizuki lunged forward with a sweeping slash, his longer reach clearly giving him an advantage, grinning smugly as he expected an easy victory. He did not expect however, for the blonde to leap deftly out of the way, somersaulted behind him and punching him in the kidney and calf, the kunai in her fist puncturing his flesh and drawing blood. Ignoring the pain, he skillfully reversed the grip on his kunai and spun around for a backward slash only to find the blond rolling under between his feet that were positioned too wide apart after the initial lunge.

Mizuki launched into a series of quick and rapid slashes, getting more and more frustrated as Naruto would agilely dodge and evade every attack by either jumping over him or simply rolling out of they way, never lingering in the same spot for more than a fraction of a second. Her small body made her a difficult target while she would strike whenever he showed an opening, nicking or cutting him with her kunai.

While he had been able to block most of her punches or slashes, he cursed as he realised the first two blows to his kidney and calf were slowly beginning to wear at him. Forgoing niceties, he threw a barrage of kunai at Naruto, forcing her to jump out of the way while using the window of opportunity to perform a set of hand seals. "Katon: Endan!"

Naruto extended her legs in mid-spin, feet latching onto a tree behind her with practiced ease as she run up the length of the tree to dodge the flames, surprising both Iruka and Mizuki yet again before leaping off the tree. She cursed inwardly however when her fatigue finally caught up to her and she failed to push off the tree properly with even amount of chakra, causing her to lose her balance when she landed, stumbling as she tried to find her equilibrium.

The split second it took for her to stabilise herself cost her dearly as Mizuki seized the chance to quickly close the distance hacking away furiously, preventing her to roll or jump out of the way. She cursed again when she parried too high and was easily pushed off balance by Mizuki who got under her guard.

"NARUTO!" Iruka yelled impotently from where he lay.

She cursed at her blunder, regretting not having rested earlier_._ Mizuki grinned smugly, eyes glinting madly at the thought of finally getting rid of the demon spawn. The intensity of the look brought unbidden memory to Naruto, causing her to shut her eyes tightly and braced for the blow. _Gomen, Nee-chan!_

***Scchht*******

Naruto peeked through an eye when the blow never came. She was treated to the sight of a feathered shaft protruding from Mizuki's Hitai-ate, splitting the metal plate into half. The fabric around it darkened as rivulets of blood flowed profusely down his forehead.

Naruto stared for a moment before gingerly pushing away the hand with the kunai, watching the dead Chūnin slump backwards lifelessly onto the ground as blood pooled from the forehead wound. Turning around, she saw a blank masked ANBU with his crossbow.

"Eh! Stalker-san! Am I glad to see you!" She cried, hugging the ANBU in question.

Iruka would have face faulted if not for his condition. "Oi! Naruto! You should show your saviour more respect and appreciation!" he chided before apologizing profusely to the ANBU on behalf of his rude student. Despite it all, he was glad to see that Naruto was back to her old self.

The ANBU simply turned his head lazily to regard Naruto. "Hello, Trouble."

This prompted Iruka to raise an eyebrow. Judging from how familiar the two of them addressed each other, it was probably not the first time they have met. The ANBU pried the blonde off his waist and headed over to Iruka, pulling out bandages and ointments from his pockets to help dress his wound. Iruka allowed himself being lifted up piggyback style while the ANBU hoisted Mizuki's body by his flak jacket.

"Would you hold the scroll for me, Trouble?"

Once Naruto picked up the scroll, they began tree jumping at a moderate pace back towards the village. Iruka found it strange that the ANBU doesn't seemed to care and even expected the fresh graduate to be able to tree jump. "So… You two know each other?" He asked, curiousity getting the better of him.

"Yes and no." was the curt reply from the ANBU.

Naruto giggled. "Stalker-san here had always bailed me out of trouble when I was younger."

Iruka sweat dropped. "Ah… I see." _That explains a lot._ "And when did you learn tree climbing, Naruto?" He didn't really felt the need to ask whom since he could already guess.

"Mm… about 4 years ago I guess." Naruto replied, eyes glossed over in reminiscence.

"And that Taijutsu form…?"

"Gee, sensei. You sure ask a lot of questions. Are you sure you weren't just staying Chūnin for the sake of tormenting students?" Naruto retorted, causing Iruka to sputter indignantly. "But if you really must know, that was something Nee-chan made for me. I haven't mastered the form yet though. She only taught me the basics and first half of the kata."

Feeling bored, Naruto pulled open the Scroll of Seals. "Ne, what's the deal with this thing anyway? Is it really that great that Mizuki would kill for it?"

"NARUTO! YOU SHOULDN'T BE READING THAT SCROLL! IT CONTAINS MANY DANGEROUS KINJUTSU THAT YOU CAN'T HANDLE!" He looked towards the ANBU for support. To his dismay, the man doesn't even seem the least perturbed and continued jumping in silence.

Naruto stuck a pinky into her sensitive ear, "There you go with the shouting again sensei." She raised an eyebrow skeptically as she read off the name of the first Jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. What's the big deal? Solid bunshin, it's not like we didn't learn about them from class before…" She was about to unfurl the scroll further when Iruka went ballistic. "Okay, okay. I was just messing with you, Iruka-sensei, Geez!"

They stopped talking however when the next three jumps brought them through the gates of the village.

* * *

**Hokage Tower**

After leaving Umino Iruka at the hospital with Naruto and Mizuki's body with the interrogation department, the ANBU headed off to the Hokage Tower to personally return the scroll.

"I thank you for returning this." Hiruzen sighed in relief as he resealed the scroll in a more secure section of the vault.

"Don't thank me. Trouble was the one who found him."

Hiruzen chuckled at the nickname the ANBU had given Naruto. He had seen the whole thing with the Tōmegane no Jutsu. It was only apt given the number of close encounters the man had saved Naruto from.

"She'll be getting her Jōnin instructor and team tomorrow."

"Good. Hopefully I'll be able to shed the Stalker nickname. I can't wait to get on with my assignment. At least it would be less… eventful."

Hiruzen snorted. "I wouldn't count on it. Once Naruto associates you with a nickname, it usually sticks."

"One can hope, can't he?" Before adding, "Well, my condolences to your students if she ever meets them." Having said his two cents worth, the ANBU left in a Shunshin.

* * *

**October 15, Dawn**

A yellow blur shot through the forest as the Shinobi raced home from a successful mission. Tree jumping at impressive speed, the surrounding was nothing more than a blur as she relied solely on her memory of the terrain and her heightened senses to navigate the forest canopy. A grin graced her face as she finally managed to make out the beginnings of the wall that surrounds the village through the thin veil of morning mist, eager to be home at last.

Leaping off the last tree into a clearing, she rolled to a stop before striding confidently towards the massive village gate. The Shinobi manning the guard post stiffened as they were alerted to her presence. The Chūnin among them stood straight respect when she was close enough for them to identify her Konoha Hitai-ate and the Jōnin vest. Though not before scrutinising her for signs of Genjutsu or disguise. She smirked as she caught sight of an ANBU hiding from the shadows flashing the all-clear signal before she leaped off again.

Jumping effortlessly onto the roof of a water tower, she paused to weigh her options. She could either head over to the Hokage tower to submit the mission report or head home and do it later. She smiled as the first ray of the sun peeked through the horizon, casting a warm yellow glow on the Hokage Mountains. _Might as well let the old geezer wake up to a minus one-scroll desk._ Changing her direction, she roof hopped back home. The report can wait.

Sliding down the wall of the building, she counted the number of floors before halting at the right window and entering through it into the kitchen of the small studio apartment. She made her way to the bedroom and peeked through the door, smiling as she watched the younger blonde still fast asleep in her bed.

Retreating back into the kitchen, she checked the clock. It's about half past six. _Good._ She mused, plenty of time for her to whip up a decent breakfast.

An hour later, she found herself setting down two bowls of steaming congee, some ham and egg sandwiches and a large bowl of fried rice on the dining table. Satisfied, she went back into the bedroom, rolling her eyes at the still sleeping figure on the bed. She was about to shake her awake before a devious plan crossed her mind. Grinning evilly, she searched the kitchen shelf and found herself an air horn.

Holding her breath in eager anticipation, she positioned the air horn right next to the oblivious girl's ear and…

***Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing*******

Naruto yelped as she fell off her bed. "I'm up! I'm up, Jū-nee!" she cried as she struggled to cast the warm blanket off herself. She blinked rapidly while her sensitive eyes adjusted themselves to the brightness as she collected herself. _Oh, stupid alarm clock._ Smacking the snooze button out of annoyance, she sighed longingly as she recalled the dream. _Great, I'm even dreaming in third person._

She shook her head vehemently. _No more moping now!_ She got out of bed, poured herself a glass of water and looked at the calendar. _New team huh. Well here we go, Jū-nee._


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Refer Prologue**

**October 15****th**** 8:55a.m.**

**Hokage's Office**

The excited chatter of Jōnin filled the room as they received the folders detailing their prospective Genin teams. Their excitement or disappointment was barely contained as they compared the names in their folder.

Hiruzen gave a bittersweet smile despite the less than appropriate manner his subordinates were displaying. It had been many years since he took on his team but he still remembered that day when he was in their shoes. Eyes sweeping across the room, he noted though that there were few who seemed apathetic or unsurprised at their given teams. Among which in particular were Hatake Kakashi, Yūhi Kurenai and his very own son, Sarutobi Asuma.

Nothing he hadn't expected of course. Kakashi was certain he would be assigned the Uchiha, being the only person left in the village who was able to instruct him properly given Fugaku's current mental state as well as suspension from active duty. And with the boy being the Rookie of the year, it was only natural who the other two members would be.

Yūhi Kurenai had been given charge of the Hyūga heiress for the last 4 years now and it was an easier arrangement to simply continue with her as the Jōnin instructor for her team.

Asuma was simply just because he's a Sarutobi. With three of the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi clan heirs graduating this year and given the history between the four clans, it would be tradition for him to take on the role as their instructor. It was after all the Sarutobi clan who first oversaw and devised the very first Ino-Shika-Cho formation.

Deciding that they had enough time to get over the excitement, Hiruzen gave an audible cough, signaling for silence before activating the Tomegane no Jutsu. Instantly, the entire room fell silent and all attention was focused on the orb, each curious and eager to match the name to the person. Including the ones who weren't interested before.

* * *

An anxious Hinata sat at her usual seat at the top left corner of the classroom, fidgeting nervously as she kept scanning the room time after time for Naruto.

"Gee, Hinata. Take it easy, will ya? You're starting to make me edgy too." Kiba complained from beside Shino as he leaned back on his crossed arms and rested his feet on the table.

Appearing to have not heard her friend, Hinata asked worriedly, "A-ano, do you think Naruto would show up today? She wouldn't skip would she?"

Kiba sighed in annoyance, "Give it a rest already. I'm sure she'll show up any moment now in the most flamboyant manner possible." Akamaru let out an agitated growl and Kiba had to shush him. In truth, he was beginning to get worried himself given how out of character Naruto had been for the last few months.

He looked to Shino, hoping for some insight from his deadpan logic that might offer a bit of comfort. The Aburame simply looked back at him. Deadpanned. He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Why do I even bother."

At that moment, Yuzu started buzzing excitedly on Shino's head while Akamaru's ears perked up. The sliding door slammed open and a bomb was thrown in. The students at the front row braced for cover when it exploded, releasing a thick billow of smoke.

There was much cursing and yells of confusion as the smoke gradually cleared to reveal a short figure wearing a rather elaborate cream coloured coat with red and yellow flame markings at the bottom with 10 orange Uzumaki swirls incorporated into the motif of the flames. There was also the kanji for ten written at the back. Kakashi's eye widened in surprise. That cloak looked just like...

It took a full minute for half the class to realise who it was.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI IS BACK IN THE HOUSE!"

Kiba couldn't resist a grin "See what did I tell you, Hinata!"

"What the hell! Naruto you idiot! You nearly gave us a heart attack!" Ino and Sakura screeched in synch, forcing the blond to cover her sensitive ears. Of course, most of the class soon joined in with their complaints. Naruto simply laughed and shrugged them all off as she made her way up to her friends.

Naruto and Kiba exchanged a high five as she squeezed past him to her seat between Kiba and Shino. "Great to have you back, Naruto!" Kiba gave her a feral grin. "Nice coat by the way."

Naruto grinned back "I know! Isn't it awesome? I customised it myself!" She had spent most of her day off making modifications to the coat, sewing in and dying the patterns and designs herself. "And hehe, sorry about the last couple of months. You guys must've been worried huh? I'm sorry. Won't happen again!"

"Consider it water under the bridge,_ though_ _Someone_ was super worried alright." Kiba snickered and sneaked Hinata a sidelong glance.

Said girl blushed and quickly averted her glance when Naruto looked in her direction. "Aww, I'm sorry I forgot about you and I made you worry. Come here and give me a hug!" Hinata couldn't believe her ears as her heart pumped wildly in excitement. _Is this it? Is she finally noticing me? Thank you, Kiba!_

She spun around immediately for her hug only to be crushed emotionally when she saw Naruto hugging Yuzu fondly and feeding her a mandarin orange, which she happily bit into. Squealing delightedly as it savoured the juicy fruit. Kiba meanwhile guffawed at Hinata's expense.

Naruto chuckled when Akamaru tugged on the hem of her coat. "Of course, I didn't forget about you, Akamaru!" She reached into the pockets of her coat and brought out some jerky sticks for the dog.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Damn it Naruto, stop spoiling Akamaru. Shino might be fine with you feeding Yuzu, but you're going to turn Akamaru into Chōji if you keep sneaking him snacks."

"What was that?" A riled up Chōji asked dangerously from the row in front of them.

"A-ah, I said Shōji! Shōji! Not you, Chōji." Kiba hastily interjected. "Anyway, from what Iruka told us, we're going to be split into teams of three. Any ideas about the grouping?"

Shikamaru decided to chip into the conversation. "It's troublesome but Chōji, Ino and I are probably going to be in a team, given our clan's history. It's going to be a pain if that's the case. Ino always throws a fit when things doesn't go her way." Chōji simply nodded his head in quiet agreement as both boys observed Ino bickering with the rest of the girls for seating rights next to Sasuke.

Naruto chuckled "Sucks to be you two then. I would hate to be in a team with any of them fan-girls. If I were to get another fellow Kunoichi in the team, I'd want it to be Hinata. Right, Hinata? Eh? Man, she fainted again. I hope I wouldn't have to deal with that if we're on a team." Her friends rolled their eyes while Shino wordlessly directed Yuzu to fan the Hyūga heiress awake with its wings.

"I think either you, me, Shino and Hinata might be in a group though! Since we all excel at tracking." Kiba offered hopefully.

Shino frowned "Unlikely."

"Why not?" Kiba challenged. "Naruto's a sensor type plus her sense of smell is about as good as mine."

Naruto snickered "Don't compare me to you, dog boy. I don't go sniffing up people's butt!"

"Hey! I don't do that!" Kiba protested hotly. "Right sure you don't. Then how did you figure out I was a girl in the first place?"

"WHAT? I- that was… Akamaru told me!" Kiba sputtered while Akamaru growled indignantly at his partner.

"Well if you think about it, there would be a higher chance Naruto will be placed in a different team. Why? Because Iruka did mention that each team would be balanced out. In this case, a team consisting of any two of us with Naruto would be unlikely given our respective scores." Shino explained.

"Man, that sucks."

Naruto grinned cheekily. "Aah~ it doesn't matter whoever it is I'm paired with. I'm sure I'm more than enough to cover up for them!"

Kiba was about to come up with a retort when Iruka entered the classroom, yelling the usual "QUIET!" This time though, he earned the class's rapt attention as they waited eagerly for their team placement.

* * *

**9.27a.m.**

"…And Team 7… Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke!" Naruto perked up when she heard her name.

"Maan… guess Shino is right again." Kiba commented with a slightly disappointed tone.

Naruto smiled cheerily "Cheer up, Kiba. At least now you three have a higher chance of staying together in a team!"

"Ah… well… It's not me that I'm worried about…" Kiba and Shino sweat dropped and shared a sidelong glance at the depressed Hyuga heiress as she emanated gloom in waves.

Not really paying attention to her friends, Naruto looked instead at her proposed teammates. _Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke huh. _She had to suppress a mental sigh at the sight of Sakura drooling all over a less than pleased Sasuke.

The Uchiha turned around to look for his other teammate and their eyes met. Naruto gave him a sympathetic smile and an awkward wave while he resisted the urge to groan. _Great. A fan girl and the usuratonkachi._

Naruto mulled over her new teammates. She had mostly avoided those two during her time at the academy. Sakura mainly because her arguments with Ino tend to get very loud and high pitched which offends her sensitive ears and Sasuke because Jū seemed to be oddly silent whenever they're around him or just plain weird.

She had thought Jū had a thing or two for the Uchiha and had teased her about it but Jū simply remained silent or simply unresponsive, giving her one of those blank flashback look. It unnerved her whenever Jū was that quiet. Come to think of it, Jū was unusually silent whenever Sakura was around too.

Feeling a little uneasy, Naruto wished the fox was around to confide in as she added to her growing list of another reason why Jū should wake up soon. She was snapped out of her reverie when Iruka announced a break and reminded them to be back after lunch, as their Jōnin instructors will come to collect their respective teams.

The class emptied itself out as the prospective Genin left with their own allocated teams. Naruto grinned and waved at Shino and Kiba as they dragged an unresponsive Hinata out of the classroom. Looking around for her teammates again, she realised that she was left alone in the classroom. _Those jerks! They left without me!_

* * *

**Uchiha District**

Strolling the streets with hands in his pockets, Uchiha Sasuke coolly lifted an empty soft drink can that had found its way into his clan compound by his feet and kicked it into a nearby bin as he strolled the deserted streets of his clan compound. It wasn't exactly something he would be caught dead doing outside of the safety of his clan compound. Who knows what his fan club would do to him.

He shuddered as the thought reminded him of his teammate. Haruno Sakura of all people. He had tried to politely reject her advances repeatedly, but it never seemed to get through that thick forehead of hers and worse yet she seemed to take it as encouragement. Talk about clueless.

Which brings him to his other teammate. Uzumaki Naruto. He paused in his steps as he tried to come up with an appropriate profile for the orange wonder. Putting together what scarce information he knew of Naruto, he was reminded of his frequent outbursts with Iruka, idiotic pranks and atrocious academic scores. _Right. The usuratonkachi. They saddled me with dead weights! At this rate, I doubt I'll ever advance fast enough._

Sasuke was surprised he had already made it back home unconsciously. Sighing at his luck of teammates, he banished all depressed thoughts and entered through the door. "Tadaima."

"Okaeri, Sasuke. Your dad just went out. Here, lunch is ready." Mikoto greeted cheerfully from the dining room as she set down a tray of Onigiri and handing Sasuke a washbasin. "So how did your team placement go? Who are your new teammates?"

Sasuke grimaced "Haruno Sakura." Mikoto giggled "Ah, that girl who wouldn't leave you alone huh? Maybe it's fate!" She couldn't help but tease.

Sasuke stared in horror at his mother. "Don't even joke about it!" Laughing at her son's expense, Mikoto headed back into the kitchen. "And who's the other?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Picking up an Onigiri, Sasuke replied nonchalantly. It's not like his mother would know he was the dead last and dad wasn't around. He froze when he heard a loud crash of breaking plates coming from the kitchen.

Alarmed, he dashed to the kitchen. "Mom, is everything alright?"

Mikoto was crouched on the floor with her back facing Sasuke as she picked up pieces of a broken bowl. "It's alright Sasuke. I just got careless." Sasuke frowned, as the slight tremble in her voice didn't go unnoticed as he handed her the dustpan. Sasuke raised an eyebrow skeptically. His mother is anything but careless. "Are you sure?"

Mikoto smiled as she finished cleaning up. "Hai, Hai. Your mom isn't as young as she used to be." As if on emphasis, she ran her fingers through her hair where a few stray strands of white were clearly visible in contrast of her normal midnight blue hair.

"Ne, Sasuke. Why don't you invite both Haruno-san and Uzumaki-san over sometime?"

"I'll see mother."

* * *

**On the other side of Konoha**

Naruto cursed herself for not paying closer attention to her classmate's chakra signature, as she ran through the neighborhood, trying to find her teammates. Taking a few good sniffs, Naruto picked up a trace of… _ugh Floral Green shampoo? For real?_ and took the right turn. _Ha! Tracking her is cake!_

Naruto paused and frowned. _That can't be right! Jeez, she'd be a walking beacon if we ever go on stealth missions. _Naruto marked that down as another thing to talk to her about, or at least with their sensei. She had the nagging doubt that Sakura would appreciate her advice.

Following her nose, she took another turn when she crashed into someone and fell on her back. "Itai!" Looking up, she saw Sakura and her face lit up. "Ah! Sakura-chan! I've been looking all over the place for you!"

Unfortunately though, Naruto was greeted with a fist to her head. "Itai! What the hell was that for?" She exclaimed, glaring up at Sakura.

Sakura glared back at her "You stalker! Don't follow me home you pervert!"

"I was just looking for you and Sasuke since the two of you left the classroom without me! Why on earth would I even want to stalk you?"

Sakura looked a little taken aback until the implication of his last sentence hit home, "Hmph, well just don't get in the way between Sasuke and I!" before storming off in the direction of the academy, leaving a sputtering Naruto behind.

Just as soon as she was out of sight, Naruto gave a frustrated scream, "AARGH! I'm teamed up with an unreasonable psycho!"

* * *

**10.57a.m.**

**Konoha Academy**

After failing to track down Sasuke, Naruto returned to the classroom, flopping down over the desk and brooding over her supposed teammates. _Aaah! They piss me off._ She screamed inwardly as she blew a lock of stray hair away from her face. Her spirits lifted somewhat as she thought she felt a rumbling chuckle from Jū but her mood plummeted again as the bell rang and her classmates with their respective teams returned to their tables. She barely even took notice when Sasuke sat down beside her while Sakura started making a big fuss over sitting next to her crush.

It didn't take long until the first Jōnin arrived to pick up his team. One by one, the class slowly emptied itself out.

"Team 8, come with me." A rather beautiful Kunoichi called out. Sitting up, Naruto smiled and waved at her friends as they stood up to leave the room, causing Hinata to blush and look away. The action did not escape the notice of the seasoned Jōnin who smiled knowingly before she escorted her team out of the classroom.

Soon after, even Team 10 was picked up by a rather unkempt looking Jōnin.

In a scant few moments, the classroom was empty with the exception of Team 7. Naruto groaned, as it didn't take long for Sakura to start bickering for the seat next to Sasuke again.

* * *

**12:31 p.m.**

Having grown tired of Sakura, Naruto found herself sitting by the seat next to the door. _At least she's quiet now. _Having actually ran out of things to say to Sasuke about half an hour ago, Sakura now sat fidgeting nervously next to her crush.

Sighing, Naruto couldn't help but feel annoyed at their Jōnin instructor for being fashionably late. In fact, whoever it is was almost as late as…

Then it clicked. _It can't be, can it?_ She wondered before calming herself to tap into the Senchakra around the building. Picking up a familiar chakra presence moving at a leisurely pace towards their direction, she couldn't help but laugh out loud, causing her teammates to stare at her.

"What's so funny, Naruto?" Naruto smirked as she noted the agitation in Sasuke's eyes.

"Nothing, but you two should really relax a little you know. He'll get here when he gets here. He is a Jōnin after all, you know."

Sasuke was about to open his mouth when Sakura beat him to it. "But he's two hours late!"

Biting back his annoyance, Sasuke continued, "He may be a Jōnin but that's still no excuse to be tardy."

Picking up a slow approaching presence, Naruto simply leaned back in a careful manner, "I'm just saying. Anyway, I'm pretty sure he'll show up right about… now."

The other two snapped their heads towards the door as it slid open and a bored looking Jōnin poked his head through the door.

* * *

Poking his head through the doorway, Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the classroom.

As expected, the Uchiha kid glared at his direction while trying to hide his annoyance behind a poker face. _Got to do better than that, Sasuke. The more you try to hide your emotion, the more your eyes give you away._

Stopping at Haruno, he wasn't surprised at her ill concealed displeasure with her strained smile. "Ah… a-ano, are you Hatake-san?" _Needs to speak her mind instead of constantly worrying about what others think. Possibly have low self-esteem issues. _Choosing to ignore her question, his eyes strayed over to the final member of the team right in front of him.

He was slightly perplexed at the wide grin on her face, but not quite unexpected either. _And there's always the wild card._

Noting their seating arrangement, he sighed. "Hmm… well, how should I put it? My first impression of you guys is… you're hopeless. I had counted on you three to spend the two hours getting to know each other better but I guess that was too much to hope for, ne?" Layering his words with calculated sarcasm.

"That works out just fine anyway, since now we can all get to know each other and you wouldn't have to repeat yourselves! But first, lets get somewhere more comfortable." He gave them his brightest smile, but not before letting them to stew for a few seconds in their own incompetence.

The three Genin peered at their instructor. _He totally just made that up to make us feel bad and cover for himself didn't he?_

* * *

**Random Building Rooftop, Konoha**

Leaning against the guardrail, Kakashi turned to face the team. "Now that we're all comfortable, let's begin with some introductions. You know, your likes, dislikes… dreams for the future, hobbies… stuff like that."

There was a momentary silence before Sakura decided to speak up. "Ano, why don't you start first, sensei. Since you're the stranger among us."

"Fair enough. I'm Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes… I don't feel like telling you guys about them at the moment. Dreams for the future… nothing you need to concern yourselves with… and I'm a man of many hobbies…"

"Iya that just wouldn't do, Hatake-san!"

The rest of the team was surprised by Naruto's outburst. "And what just wouldn't do?" Kakashi prompted.

Naruto rolled her eyes. "That's not an introduction. I've had it with you lot! If you wouldn't do it properly, I'll do it for you!"

"Oh, and you presume to know me?" Naruto grinned. _Hook, line and sinker._ Taking that statement as an opening invitation, she took a deep breath.

"Hatake Kakashi. Never seen without his mask. Just turned 26 last September. Height 181cm. I don't know your weight but I'd say around 70kg. Likes to take things easily. His favourite pastime is reading Icha-Icha Paradise, favourite food are salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant and his dream is to see… mmfff!" Naruto found herself cut off as Kakashi hastily covered her mouth. The rest of the team was pretty much thinking along the line of _is she a stalker?_

"Maa! Maa! That's enough don't you think? I know it's impolite to give too few information about yourselves, but it's not good if you reveal too much information!" _How the hell does she even know so much about me?_

Struggling out of Kakashi's grasp, Naruto simply pouted, "Well, it wouldn't have come to this if you'd just do your introduction properly."

"Ah well, next!" Kakashi replied hastily, nodding at Sakura.

"Ah, well my name is Haruno Sakura. The thing… rather the person I like is…"

Kakashi and Naruto sweat dropped as the girl showered not so subtle looks of affection at Sasuke all the while throughout her introduction. Figuring that's the extent of it, Kakashi decided to move on. "Next."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I dislike slackers and people who wouldn't pull their own weight. I like training and fighting against strong opponents. My dream is to see my clan honour restored."

"See, it's not so hard if you try!" Naruto quipped.

"Alright, your turn."

Leaning back, Naruto smiled. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen and my favourite number is ten! I'm born on the same month and day too! I dislike people who are prejudiced against others. And my dream… is to one day surpass and be able to protect my precious person."

Kakashi frowned inwardly at the girl's declaration. _Jū_ _again huh. I thought so..._

"Well, now that we have gotten that out of our way, I suppose the only thing left is to tell you about your final test…"

"Oh, there's still one more test?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

Chuckling, Kakashi leaned forward, "Ah, and it gets better. You see, in order to maintain high quality recruits, only the best of the best are selected, and to do so, only 3 teams are passed every year. The rest will be sent back to the academy."

He paused a moment to let it sink in. "Anyway, meet me at the Third Training Ground tomorrow morning for your test and don't forget to come prepared. Oh, and if you don't want to throw up, I suggest skipping breakfast!" With that he left with a Shunshin, leaving behind 3 fliers for the bewildered Genin.

Naruto frowned as she felt the Jōnin's chakra slowly fade out into the distance. Searching her memories of time spent with Kakashi, she tried to recall any mention of tests and found none. Feeling disappointed, she turned around to her teammates.

"Ne, how about you say we..." She sighed dejectedly as realized she was the only one left on the top of the roof before muttering "Ne, nee-chan… what should I do?"

* * *

**Konoha Memorial Stone**

"Ne, Pakkun. Do you think they'll pass on the test tomorrow?" Kakashi absently asked the pug sitting beside him in front of the monument.

"Well, from what you've told me, probably not." Came the deadpanned reply.

"Well, I even left them a hint."

"Coming from you, they probably think it as some lame excuse for being late instead of taking it seriously."

"It's not my fault if they can't see underneath the underneath." Sighing softly, his tone turned serious. "By the way Pakkun, are you sure you've never notice anyone following us around before without us knowing."

"I'm sure of it. The others think so too. If there is, then we're sorry for our failure."

"Don't blame yourselves. The person is S ranked in the bingo book after all." Kakashi assuaged, rubbing the pug gently on the head.

"Well, there is one thing, some of the things you told me she said…"

"I see. You think so too huh?"

.

.

.

* * *

***A/N:**

**Alright. Finally posted this darn chapter. Sorry for my lateness if any of you who followed my story back then are still following it now. I got no good excuse other than that I got lost in the road of life. That and no matter what I do I just can't seemed to be satisfied with this chapter. **

**I rewrote. Scrapped. Rewrote it many many more times as well as fine tuning, rephrasing etc. And it just sucked. Ask my proof reader who must've been sick of this chapter already. Thought it's high time I put this out anyway and live with it. The next one is better though. I hope. I think it is anyway.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclamer: Refer Prologue**

**16****th**** October, 5:30a.m.**

**Konoha Third Training Ground**

Naruto yawned a little tiredly as she worked her way to the appointed training ground. Upon arrival, she was surprised to find both Sasuke and Sakura already at the field. Though judging from the looks of their faces, they didn't get much sleep either.

"Ah, good morning." She greeted.

Sasuke looked at her before grunting a non-committal "Hn." Sakura seemed startled awake before replying "Ah, Good morning." blankly.

Looking around, Naruto noted with no real surprise that Kakashi was nowhere in sight. _Geez, of all the traits he could've picked to emulate, it has to be that one huh._ She felt like sighing but a chuckle escaped her lips instead. _Ironic that I used to think it was funny._

Noticing Sasuke frowning at her, she shrugged. "Just thinking that it's so like him to be late as usual." She casually explained as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She didn't however expect to see his frown deepen.

"As usual?"

Naruto looked back at him puzzled. "Hai, Kakashi-san is always late. In fact, he's almost famous for it."

The other two Genin groaned as they realised they would probably have to wait for an unspecified amount of time before their tardy Sensei decided to show up while Naruto simply shrugged. "You'll get used to it." Before plopping down under the tree with her teammates.

She turned to face Sasuke when he kept staring at her. "You seemed to know him very well." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Well see, I hear about him a lot from a reliable source!" Naruto replied cheekily before countering, "And, you seemed to be unusually talkative today."

Sasuke chortled, "I'd like to see you try to speak when each time you open your mouth, your voice is drowned out by screams and squeals. It's easier to just keep quiet."

The statement caused her to burst out laughing and Sakura to blush in embarrassment. Naruto was surprised when Sakura didn't protest at all. _She must be really tired._

"Ne, Sakura-chan. Just sleep if you need to. We'll wake you up when Sensei is here."

Forcing herself awake, she protested, "I don't want to make a bad impression…"

"And you won't make a good one either by falling asleep during the test." Sasuke reasoned, surprising Naruto. "He's right you know. Besides, we're talking about someone who's always fashionably late. Bad impression would be the last thing I'll be worried about." She added.

Convinced, Sakura gratefully closed her eyes after mumbling a sleepy thank you.

"I'm surprised. I didn't think you cared." Naruto asked after she was certain the girl was fast asleep.

"Hn. She'll just be a deadweight if she doesn't."

"You do realise that when she wakes up, she'll think that you actually do care."

"Tch."

They sat in silence for a while before she noticed Sasuke trying to stifle a yawn. "You should probably sleep a bit too."

She resisted rolling her eyes when Sasuke started protesting. Tired of arguing, she feigned a small yawn herself, "Look I'm a bit sleepy too, so why don't you just get some rest now so I can do the same later?"

That seemed to get Sasuke to back down a little but not without adding "Be sure to wake me up after 15 minutes."

Needless to say, Sasuke was pissed when she woke him up an hour later, but upon noticing their still absent Sensei, he managed to let it go.

* * *

**10:00 a.m.**

Naruto felt herself being shaken awake by a now reasonably well-rested Sakura. Sasuke was wide-awake at her side. She smirked as she recalled him saying something along the line of not sleeping while Sakura was awake during one of their shifts. Standing upright, she dusted herself off. Still feeling somewhat cranky from the lack of sleep, she couldn't resist voicing her complaint. "Man, this has got to be a record. I don't think he's been this late before."

"Hey guys! Good Morning!"

_Of course, he has to pick just now to show up._

"You're late!" Sakura screeched.

Naruto found herself smiling and saying in a dangerously sweet voice, "Good morning, Sensei. How nice to see you so early in the morning!"

"Ah, sorry I'm late. A black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way." Ignoring the annoyed glare of the Genin, he proceeded to set an alarm clock on top of a wooden post. "Alright, it's set for noon. Your objective for today is simply to take these bells from me before the time is up." Kakashi announced, jingling a pair of bells before Team 7.

"Those who cannot get a bell by noon gets no lunch and will be tied to this post. That person will also be sent back to the academy. Since there's only two bells, at least one of you will be sent back to the academy." He paused a moment, letting his words sink in before finally adding.

"You can of course, use everything at your disposal. A word of advice, you won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I mean you've only just lied to us, made us lose a good night's sleep, forced us to wait out for you for over four hours, and now you come up with some ridiculous test like that? Forget the bells. I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna kill him just for those reasons alone." Naruto replied in a singsong voice laced with malice while whipping three Kunai in between each of her fingers.

Much to her surprise, Sakura found herself nodding along in agreement. _Shannaro! You tell him, Naruto!_

The Jōnin's eye widened when her two teammates stood up behind her with the same mad glint in their eyes. _That certainly wasn't quite expected._

"W-wait, I haven't said start yet!"

Sasuke scoffed. "You should know better, in real combat there's no starting, only finishing."

Surprised by her teammate's unexpected support, Naruto decided to press the advantage. Grinning broadly, she decided to taunt the Jōnin further. "Since when do you even care about rules anyway? Maybe if you had shown up on time, we might have been in a more forgiving mood."

Giving a slight nod, the three Genin leapt back to form a flanking formation around Kakashi. To the Genin's bewilderment, the Jōnin suddenly started laughing. "What's so funny?" Sasuke demanded.

"Ah, nothing in particular. But I'm beginning to like you guys already."

The Genin were shocked when the Jōnin suddenly blurred out of sight. Reacting on instinct, Naruto immediately throw herself into a forward roll as just a split second later, she felt Kakashi's presence behind her. _Fast! So this is a J__ō__nin!_

She barely had enough time to slap an explosive tag on the ground before rolling out of his reach, forcing Kakashi to leap back before the tag exploded. Compared to Mizuki, Kakashi's speed and reaction were light years apart. Suddenly wondering if she had bitten off more than she could chew, Naruto decided to crush away any doubts. _A little too late for that now._ And steadied herself from a back flip.

Sliding away from the blast, Kakashi noted with both surprise and approval. _So she's going all out. Good. And it doesn't look like she's underestimating me either. Now what about the others?_ His first intention had been to take out Naruto since she seemed to be acting as the will of the group. Although he doubt they were aware of it. Then again, he expected nothing less from the child of Minato and Kushina. He fluidly leapt out of the way to dodge a barrage of Kunai that rained down on the ground where he was standing on a second ago and caught one out of the air to deflect the others. Turning around, he found himself being charged by Sasuke.

Sasuke meanwhile felt a shiver up his spine. He wasn't sure what possessed him to make that impulsive outburst against their Sensei. It took him a full moment to realise that tingle is actually the long forgotten sensation of feeling thrilled. It's been so long since he felt that way. _Not since Ita- No. Shouldn't bring him up._ Still, the reflex shown by the Jōnin was nothing short of impressive. _That is what I need to surpass._ Saving up his remaining Kunai, he caught sight of Naruto in the corner of his vision. Like a well-oiled pair, the both of them flanked the Jōnin together from both sides.

Naruto dodged under a sweeping kick from their Sensei before returning it with a spinning kick of her own. She wasn't surprised when the Jōnin blocked it with ease, but using it to her advantage, she pushed more force into the kick to launch herself into the air. She had always been disappointed with her small stature but Jū had taught her some awesome Kata that took advantage of her size difference against opponents. Never had she felt more proud of her stature as her deft maneuver allowed her to hurl the Kunai from her fist down at her Sensei, forcing the Jōnin back.

Sasuke on the other hand, found himself fitting comfortably into the impromptu tag team they have formed. Some innate part of his Uchiha ancestry allowed him to read both his teammate and opponent's movement easily as he adjusted his movements accordingly. He couldn't help but felt smug, as the two of them seemed to be driving the Jōnin back. Although a small part of him that was the good Shinobi was nagging that beating the Jōnin was not part of the objective.

Kakashi meanwhile was taking it easy as he gauged his student's ability. Sasuke of course, did not disappoint as he blocked and countered with his almost textbook perfect execution of kicks and punches. There were hardly any holes in his guard and his punches and kicks were precise. He also noted the way the younger boy was following both his and Naruto's movement. _I see, so he's not far off huh. _Taking advantage of a momentary opening from Sasuke, the Jōnin easily broke through Sasuke's guard with his longer reach, punching him twice near his solar plexus before allowing him to roll out of his range to recover his breath. _No need to crush his pride. Yet._

The reprise was short lived as Kakashi found himself under a furious onslaught of fist, kicks and Kunai from the little blonde spitfire. A complete juxtaposition of Sasuke's controlled and measured strikes. There were also a considerable number of openings in her guard and frowning, he noticed that she seemed to be using some less suitable muscle groups for some of her maneuvers. Oddly enough, none of her Kata seemed to be out of the standard taijutsu forms commonly practiced around the region. To most observer, it may seemed like a bunch of sloppy punches and kicks coupled with flowery acrobatics, but having copied over as many forms of Taijutsu as Ninjutsu, he managed to identify them as a bastardization of some odd but impressive collection of schools and styles. There's even Gai's strong fist element in her attacks as he blocked a familiar drop kick from the blonde.

It seemed Iruka was right. This Jū person seemed to be teaching Naruto how to fight, although the effectiveness of the style seemed to be questionable. If anything, it gave him the impression that Jū was either an overzealous teacher or trying to get Naruto killed. Having seen enough from both his students, Kakashi dodged another kick from Naruto and a punch from Sasuke before hurling the former over his shoulder, punching the latter in the guts and leaping onto the branch of a tree.

"I'm impressed. It seems there's no need for me to teach you about Ninja fighting lesson #1. Taijutsu."

Recovering his breath, Sasuke retaliated by throwing a volley of Shurikens and Kunai at Kakashi. He was surprised however when all of it hit the Jōnin dead on before it suddenly revealed itself to be a log. _Damnit! Kawarimi!_ Panicking, he started looking around for the real Kakashi.

"Let's see how you fare against Ninjutsu."

Naruto's eyes widened as she felt a presence and churning sound moving towards Sasuke in high speed. "Sasuke, he's underneath you! Jump!"

_What? She can tell where I was? _For once, Kakashi was glad that his face was both concealed by his mask and that he was still a few feet underground or they would have surely seen his uncool look of astonishment.

Heeding his comrade's warning, Sasuke launched himself upwards just in time to avoid being ambushed by Kakashi while perching safely up in the branch of a tree.

"Maa, I'm impressed, Naruto. To be able to sense me even when I've hidden myself away, but I'm afraid if you want to pass or even beat me up, you'll have to do better than that."

Naruto yelped as a pair of hands grabbed hold of her legs from the ground and she found herself dragged down into the earth, leaving her head above the ground.

Glaring at her sensei, she pouted "No fair! A Kage Bunshin!" Squatting down, Kakashi petted her head nicely, "Well, a Shinobi has to look underneath the underneath."

He was taken aback at the huge grin from Naruto and even more surprised when she dispelled in a puff of smoke.

"Heeh, so Mizuki was right! I guess this Jutsu is useful after all!" A gleeful Naruto sang from a nearby tree.

"But, I know that the real you is hiding over there!" She exclaimed before throwing a few Kunai tagged with explosives towards a deserted spot in the ground, forcing the Jōnin to abandon his earthy cover before it blew up. _So, she's a sensor type. And she could tell apart clones?_

Sakura found herself struggling to find an opening to fit into the fight. She couldn't help but be amazed at her teammates. _They're both awesome. _Suddenly, she felt so very small. All these time she had been laughing with the class at Naruto when she never realised he was actually this much more skilled. His fighting with Sasuke earlier was almost flawless and both the boys seemed to be working well as a team already. _**A team that seems to be functioning flawlessly without you.**_ Her inner voice mocked.

_No! That's not true!_

_**Oh, you know well it is. Hiding behind this façade of yours again, Forehead girl? Face it, we both know that when it comes down to actually getting anything done, you're absolutely useless.**_

_I… I'm not…_

_**There you go again, denying the truth and surrounding yourself in this fantasy of yours. If it weren't for Ino, you'd still be hiding behind books, living in shame of that ridiculous forehead of yours!**_

_I'm not useless Shannaro! I'm the Kunoichi of the year! I'm better than Ino-buta!_

_**Then prove it!**_

_**I'll**__ show __**them**__ I'm __**worthy**__ of __**being**__ on __**the**__ team __**in**__ my __**own**__ way!_

Shaking away all remnants of negative thoughts, Sakura renewed her resolve as she calmed herself and started analysing the situation.

* * *

Having flushed out the real Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke renewed their assault. Getting tired of toying with the Genin, Kakashi decided to step it up a little as he swiftly grabbed another wheel kick from Naruto, only this time, he effortlessly hurled the diminutive girl across the field and into the lake with just one hand.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he confirmed his suspicion. _So he's really been toying with us all this time. _Still, throughout the fight, he couldn't help but feel happy. Happy to be able to cut lose and let out all his frustrations. Happy to be able to fight alongside someone. A feeling he had almost forgotten.

_I guess there's no helping it. No shame in using it against an opponent of this level._ Snapping his hands together in a quick series of handseals, he gathered up his Chakra and prepared himself.

"Katon – Gokakyū no Jutsu!" Kneading the chakra inside his lungs, Sasuke exhaled, expelling an intense fireball towards their sensei.

Kakashi barely managed to substitute himself in time after recovering from the surprise of the Jutsu, not expecting a Genin to be able to pour that much chakra into that particular technique.

Over the lake, Naruto managed to right herself and came to a skidding stop on the surface of the lake. Seeing Sasuke cutting lose with his fire Jutsu, she grinned. "Well now, I guess we'll have to step it up too, huh, Nee-chan? We won't lose out to Sasuke!"

Holding up her hands together in a single Tiger seal, she gathered her chakra and saturated the water to form a ball the size of a large watermelon in front of her.

"Suiton – Teppōdama!"

While not nearly as large and impressive as Sasuke's Gokakyū, what the water bullet lacked in ferocity it made up for with sheer speed. Kakashi was startled when his sharp hearing picked up the surge of the Suiton Jutsu hurtling at him from the lake. Turning around, he again barely managed to twist himself out of the bullet's path before it sailed clean across the entire clearing and collided violently against a tree, sending barks and splinters flying.

He winced. _I guess it's time to end this now or someone might really get hurt._

Dodging from more shuriken coming from Sasuke, Kakashi suddenly felt his leg caught against a thin wire before a spring noose tightened around his leg and hung him upside down from a tree.

"Ha! We got you now, Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed proudly as she rejoined smug Sasuke and elated Sakura.

Kakashi returned their looks with an amused smile. "That's all very good. Except there seems to be three problems."

His smile widened as the statement seemed to catch the Genin's attention. "Firstly, you guys appeared to have totally forgotten the goal of the test, which is to get the bells. Secondly, you didn't really catch me." The three Genin were shocked when the Kakashi before them turned into a log again while the real one stepped out from behind a tree. "While I commend your well placed trap, Sakura. I'm afraid your inexperience in using them made it obvious to anyone paying attention." As he gestured to her dried leaves camouflage, causing the girl to blush in embarrassment.

"Which brings us to the last problem." Right on cue, the bell rang. "You just ran out of time." Kakashi announced cheerily.

* * *

"Why the hell am I the one tied to the post?" Naruto protested indignantly as she glared upwards at Kakashi.

Looking up from his book, Kakashi smiled, "Well, I don't know. Maybe it's because you're the one who riled up the team and caused them to lose sight of the objective?"

"Well, we almost had you." Naruto mumbled weakly.

Snapping his book shut, Kakashi fixed them all with a stern glare. "In the shinobi world, there's no such thing as almost. You either make the cut. Or you don't. Little difference like that in the field could mean saving or losing the life of a comrade."

"So tell me. Why should I pass anyone of you when none of you clearly have a bell?"

Naruto gritted her teeth together for a moment before looking away in shame. Pushing thoughts of how to break the news to Jū to the recesses of her mind, she took a deep breath, keeping her voice from wavering. _Damn it. Well, if I fail, might as well fail in my own terms and with dignity._ "Pass the other two, Sensei. You're right. It's my fault. I got carried away and dragged them both into this." Naruto sighed resignedly.

Her declaration seemed to startle Sasuke and Sakura out of their respective thoughts.

"Tch. Pass Naruto and Sakura. I understood but still ignored the objective on my own volition. It's not fair to push the blame on him. An Uchiha accepts responsibility for his own mistakes." _And it's not like father cares._ He thought bitterly.

Feeling suddenly very incompetent, Sakura bit her lips before stuttering "A-Ano… since I contributed the least in the whole exercise. So please just fail me and pass Naruto and Sasuke-kun." She implored with a bow.

An awkward silence descended the team for a few seconds until Kakashi started laughing hysterically while his team stared at him as if he's lost it.

Recovering from his fit of laughter, he smiled "Congratulations, you guys passed!" Looking at their confused and bordering on weirded out look, he sighed, "The goal of the test is to test your teamwork. It is designed to pit you against one another while it's real purpose is to see if you can overlook your own self-interest and successfully work as a team."

"While you guys certainly managed to work as a team in the beginning, your motivations were more of getting even." He smiled as Naruto looked away embarrassed. "A more lenient Jōnin would probably have passed you guys on that account."

"However, as you guys just demonstrated earlier with your willingness to put aside your self-interest, I'm proud to say you're now officially Shinobi of Konoha." He announced while cutting Naruto free.

It took a while for the realisation to sink in. Naruto was the first to speak. "So. All of that was just some elaborate mind game to mess with us huh?" She asked in annoyance. While she hated it, she could certainly agree that it was effective.

"Well, look at it this way, at least the waiting helped you guys bond over the morning!" Kakashi blurted out before he realised his mistake. _Uh oh._

The atmosphere suddenly chilled as the trio spoke in tandem.

"So…"

"You were here…"

"All the while?"

Scratching his head sheepishly, Kakashi chuckled nervously.

"Get him!"

This time, Kakashi offered little resistance as he allowed his team to take out their frustration on him as they ended up laughing in a sprawl on the ground.

_Hehe! Ne, nee-chan, maybe this team doesn't suck after all!_

_Tch, least they're not complete deadweights._

_I'll show them. I'll show them that I'm capable too!_

* * *

**12:40 p.m.**

**Hokage's Office**

The group of Jōnin reconvened back in the tower. Seeing that most of the Jōnin are present, Hiruzen decided to speak up.

"Those of you whose Genin team passed please step forward and announce your name and team."

Looking around the room, there was a momentary silence until Asuma sighed softly before taking a step forward. "Jōnin Sarutobi Asuma. Team 10 – Akimichi Chōji, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, passed!"

Kurenai followed up without missing a beat, "Jōnin Yūhi Kurenai, Team 8 – Aburame Shino, Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, passed!"

There was a brief murmur among the Jōnin, which died down soon.

They waited around for a few more seconds until no other Jōnin stepped forward. Just as Hiruzen was about to dismiss the Jōnin, Kakashi Shunshin into the room. "Jōnin Hatake Kakashi reporting in. Team 7 – Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto..." _Wait for it..._

"Passed!"

Immediately, the whole office broke out into a cacophony of excited chattering.

"Seriously?"

"You're not pulling our leg are you?"

"What did they bribe you with?"

Kakashi smiled, "Maa, Maa. They passed with flying colours with their own abilities. That's all you need to know."

"Tell us about them!"

Hiruzen had to resist rolling his eyes. Sometimes his Shinobi can be so childish. Catching Kakashi's eye, the two men shared a knowing smile.

* * *

**1:12 p.m.**

**Konoha Streets**

Strolling leisurely down the road, Naruto walked with her head held high, resting against her folded hands behind her head, proudly displaying her status as a Konoha Shinobi with her headband reflecting the afternoon sun, humming happily, she felt as if a great load had been lifted off her shoulder. On hindsight, it was pretty typical of Kakashi to come up with something like that. She chuckled. The only thing that could make this day even better is if Jū was here to share it with her.

"Hey! Watch where you're…!" A random pedestrian shouted rudely at her when he bumped into her until he realised who she was before turning tails and backed away hastily. Looking at the retreating figure of the man, Naruto simply shrugged and went on her way. Her mood was just too good to be ruined by an idiot.

Following not far behind, Hinata kept taking deep breaths. Telling herself for the hundredth time that she can do it. _Alright, I'm going to go up to her and ask if she wants to have dinner together tonight. _That thought caused her heart rate to increase to dangerous levels as she tried to calm herself down by remembering the pep talk with Kurenai-sensei.

* * *

**Earlier**

Kurenai dragged Hinata aside after Kiba and Shino went their separate ways. Hinata knew it was bad news the moment she saw the smile on her sensei's face. It was the same one she saw the day before.

"So, Uzumaki Naruto huh?" The effect was immediate. Hinata paled and stiffened like a board at the statement.

"Maa, you should relax a bit Hinata. It's alright I won't judge. After all, you can't help who you fall for." As the older woman placed a placating hand over her shoulder. However, the big sister part of her couldn't resist teasing the younger girl "So, you got the hots for the tomboy huh?"

"Kurenai-sensei!"

"Wakata, wakata. You know, why don't you ask her out for dinner tonight?" Kurenai slyly suggested.

"D-D-Di-Dinner?" Hinata stammered as her mind verged on overload. "I'm not sure I'm ready yet... What if she thinks I'm weird? What if…"

Laughing, Kurenai placed a finger on the younger girl's lips. "Relax. It doesn't have to be that kind of dinner. Think about it. If she passes her test, it could be a congratulatory dinner and if she fails, it will be a consolation dinner. Either way, you get to spend time alone and strengthen the bond with the person you care about."

She had to keep herself from giggling at the suddenly enlightened expression on her student's face when she asked with a small amount of suspicion, "Why are you suggesting this?"

Kurenai smiled, "Think of it as a test to become a bit more assertive. You're going to be working in a group from now on. I know you've known Kiba and Shino for a while now, but there would be times when you're required to work with other teams eventually. Sometimes special requests are called in for specific Shinobi and you might be assigned a different team and not have us to back you up. I think if you can find it in yourself to ask Naruto out for dinner, you can take anything that comes your way."

Digging her brain, Hinata realised she couldn't come up with a counter argument.

* * *

Sighing, Hinata hurried ahead as she started loosing sight of Naruto in the crowd. It all sounded like a simple task when Kurenai-sensei mentioned it. Find Naruto and ask her out. Swallowing nervously, she wiped her sweaty hands and steeled herself before approaching Naruto.

She nearly leapt out of her skin when Naruto suddenly turned about. "Ah, Hinata! How did your test go? You passed right? I'm sure you did, cause we got the worse Jōnin possible for that test!" _How does she do that? It's almost as if she has the Byakugan!_

Hinata found herself at loss for words as all her rehearsed speeches were pouring out of her mind. "A-aa oh, yes. We passed!" She replied dumbly.

"I knew you guys could do it! Ne, where's the rest of your team?"

"Hehe, I thought I smelt someone familiar." Kiba drawled, followed by a sharp bark from Akamaru. However, seeing Hinata, Kiba inwardly winced. "Ah, sorry. I'm not disturbing anything am I?"

Before Hinata could manage to open her mouth, Naruto gushed, "Oh, not at all! In fact, we were just talking about you and Shino. Congratulations on making the team…"

Hinata hesitates for a moment as she considered her options. _It's all right. It's only Kiba. He knows. He understands. He'll back off once I ask her._

"Ano… Naruto…" Hinata started weakly before Shino interrupted her.

"Ah, Naruto. I've been looking for you."

"Yosh, Shino! So the whole gang's here huh? Congratulations on passing. So what's up?"

"Congratulations to you too, Naruto. Because I've heard you passed. Well, you see my mother decided to hold a party tonight and would like to invite you over for dinner today. Of course, the two of you are invited too."

"Oooh! Is she making those awesome pudding of hers for dessert again?" Naruto enthused excitedly while Shino nodded affirmatively. "Count me in! Ne, you guys should come too, it'll be great!"

Sensing a mood change in Hinata, she regarded the quiet girl curiously. "Ah, sorry Hinata, you were saying something?"

"I-Iie…" She replied gloomily.

Kiba meanwhile was flabbergasted. "Y-You have a mother?" he stuttered at Shino. "This I gotta see."

_I really hate him._

_._

_._

_._

* * *

_***A/N: And there you have it. Chapter 6. Chapter 7 should go up soon, though its length might disappoint some people. I simply feel it appropriate to just have it at the length it's at.**  
_


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Refer Prologue**

**19****th**** October**

**8:10 a.m.**

_Ne, nee-chan, it's hard to believe it's almost been a week since I've become a Shinobi of Konoha. Things are going well. I still can't wait until you're finally back though. There's so much happening so I decided to start a journal so you won't miss out on the action._

*Tap*

_Ah! That must be Sakura, I gotta go!_

Naruto looked up from her writing as a small pebble struck her window of her apartment. Snapping close her dairy, she opened the window and peeked outside.

"Oi, Naruto! We're gonna be late if you don't hurry!" Sakura called from the streets below.

_Ever since we're declared an official team, Sakura-chan had been stopping by our place before heading to the mission lobby. I suppose it beats walking alone._

Stuffing her dairy into one of the many pockets of her jacket, she vaulted through the window and jumped down to the streets below.

_It's fun being a ninja!_

Joining Sakura on the streets, she fell into step with her teammate. "I really don't see why you even bother. I mean after all these times, he's always late."

_Hai, Kakashi-sensei is still as late as ever. It's annoying! I take back everything I said about it being funny! And don't you dare laugh!_

"It's called collective responsibility. If we all keep showing up on time enough time, his conscience should make him feel guilty enough to show up on time. I read it in a book Ino lent me."

_Ne, Nee-chan. Did I ever mention that Sakura-chan is weird?_

Naruto raised an eyebrow skeptically before muttering, "Like a man who reads smutty books in public has a conscience."

"Besides." Sakura added dreamily. "I get to meet up with Sasuke earlier too. He's never late."

_Aha! So that's her real reason._

Rolling her eyes, Naruto threw her arms up in exasperation and flounced ahead of Sakura. "Seriously, I don't know what you see in Mr. I'm too sexy for the plebs."

Naruto realised her mistake when Sakura gave this dreamy sigh and started counting off on her fingers, "Well, for one he's the coolest. And every time…"

_Hey, it's not my fault she completely missed the sarcasm!_

"I get it. I get it!" Naruto tried to cut her off as she made a u-turn to usher Sakura to be faster from behind. "More walking, less talking." Wincing, as her attempts didn't quite get Sakura to stop her 101 things you don't need to know about Uchiha Sasuke rant.

_Hehe. Well, I'll spare you from the details. But unfortunately, Sasuke was there early, and so we both had to sit through Sakura's fawning while waiting for Kakashi-sensei. That's usually what happens anyway._

_As for the missions… They're horrible! You'd think as ninja we'd be doing cooler stuff. Well okay they're not that bad. D-ranks are usually made up of "miscellaneous community services" as Iruka-sensei puts it. Hai, Iruka-sensei's here too. What's he doing here you ask? Apparently he's taking a short break after the scroll incident so he'll be working with the mission office for a short while. That's his version of the story if you could believe him. Honestly though, I suspect he's stalking us. Not that he could, we would know right away!_

* * *

**Streets of Konohagakure**

**2:12 p.m.**

Jumping down from the rooftops, the trio of Genin entered the Medicine Supply shop with Naruto in the lead.

"Ojamashimasu. There are some bulk supplies that needed to be delivered today and we're here on behalf of Konoha Hospital to collect them." Naruto asked while pushing a Delivery Order form towards the clerk who was engrossed in reading her magazine.

She waited patiently for a few seconds before asking again, this time raising her voice a little. "Ano, we're from Konoha Hospital and we're asked to collect the supplies as listed."

Scowling, the clerk lowered the paper and glared at Naruto before noticing Sasuke and Sakura. Upon noticing the two, her disposition brightened tremendously. "Ah! Uchiha-san. Your D-rank assignment I see? Sorry. What was it you needed?"

Both Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a look before looking at their teammate. Naruto however had simply quietly moved over to the side, checking out some of the supplies on the shelf and showing no signs of being snubbed.

Sasuke scowled in annoyance as he realised that he was forced into having a conversation. "Ah, hai. Um, we're here for the supplies Konoha Hospital requested." Sasuke stated curtly, fingers tapping on the list before him.

"Ah, of course! We have everything you'll need over here between shelves 3-5 at the loading bay. Here, I'll show you to them…"

Not wanting to be forced into any further unnecessary small talks, Sasuke interjected coolly. "That's alright. I've been here before." And made his hasty retreat towards the supplies, his teammates following close behind.

Once she's sure that they're out of hearing range, Sakura couldn't resist anymore and blurted out, "Ne, Naruto. Whatever did you do to these people? That's like the 6th person this week to have completely ignored you!"

Snorting indignantly, "What makes you so sure that it's something I did?" Naruto retorted defensively.

Sakura winced at her choice of words. _**Way to go forehead.**_

"That's not what I meant!" sighing, as she started over. "Look, sorry I didn't mean for it to come out that way, but it's just weird how they're treating you. I mean doesn't it bother you at all?" she asked frustratedly while looking to Sasuke for support as Naruto simply shrugged dismissively. "You know what they say. Life's a bed of roses."

* * *

Sasuke decided to start doing a checklist rundown while he followed his teammate's conversation intently. Their D-ranks had been interesting so to speak and Naruto's circumstances certainly piqued his interest. There's more to his teammate than meets the eye apparently. The last couple of days had made that evident.

While Naruto's circumstance does warrant questioning, he scoffed at Sakura's approach for her naivety and lack of tact. In the ninja world, one doesn't simply stroll up and ask about a Shinobi's personal life without first an invitation. It's a fast way to earn enemies. Judging from Naruto's reaction, he could understand his teammate's desire for privacy and his outburst and respected that.

_Probably a disgraced parent or both._ He speculated, judging from his attitude. It wasn't uncommon. They get someone in that position every few generations or so. He should know.

He had to suppress a snort though, when Naruto said, "You know what they say. Life's a bed of roses."

Smirking, Sasuke finished off the sentence, "There's pricks everywhere." While Naruto grinned.

Laughing weakly, Sakura couldn't help but felt a wall form between herself and her teammates, as the two guys of her team seemed to be sharing some kind of inside joke.

After a brief inventory and inspection of the goods, they began sorting the goods for transport when the clerk arrived again with two carts. "Ah, Uchiha-san, I thought these might help you and your teammate a little."

Sasuke frowned a little as he noticed the clerk only provided two carts when he remembered there's clearly more than two in the shop and that she positioned the cart closer to Sakura and himself. _Honestly though, what is she hoping to achieve with this?_

Sakura had to hide her giggle as Naruto started making faces behind the clerk's back.

Not knowing what to say, and having no desire to say it, he simply grunted, dismissing the clerk to whatever it is she does while they load up on the cart.

Naruto had created half a dozen clones when Sakura called out to her. "Naruto, you don't have to carry all of that by yourself. Here. I've arranged the things on my cart in a way that it should be able to hold some of your stuff. Just give me a moment to rearrange Sasuke's and we should be able to halve your load at least."

Blinking in surprise, Naruto smiled brightly and exclaimed "Awesome!" and proceeded to pile most of her stuff onto the free space in Sakura's cart.

Faced with his bright Megawatt smile, Sakura couldn't help but blushed a bit. "It's nothing. Just basics of Ikebana…" As she looked away and hastily proceeded to sort Sasuke's out cart.

Apparently, Sakura's modesty didn't do her Ikebana skills justice. Once everything was neatly re-arranged and securely tied down, Naruto found her clones freed of all loads and instead had them help push the carts while they made their way back to the hospital.

* * *

**Konoha Hospital**

**3:04 p.m.**

"Kakashi-sensei, we're done!" Naruto announced chirpily when they arrived back at the Hospital lobby after dropping off the supplies.

"Ne, Uzumaki-san, while we appreciate your help, please do keep it down a little." A passing doctor chided her good-naturedly.

Kakashi closed his book as he watched with amusement while Naruto apologised sheepishly. "Well, that was fast. I didn't expect you guys for another hour at least. You guys sure you didn't miss anything?"

Sasuke simply shrugged while Sakura spoke for the group, "Hai. Well, Naruto's clone helped. A lot."

_Ah, of course. I keep forgetting I'm the one stuck with a Genin that can spam shadow clones. _"I see, well that can't be helped then. I guess I'll just have to reward all your hard work with more work. Back to the mission office it is!" the Jōnin announced happily as he ushered his squad of protesting Genin out of the hospital.

"But sensei! That's the fourth D-rank today!" Naruto protested half-heartedly, though she made it a point to sound petulant about it. "Can't we get something better?"

"Well, if you guys manage to complete the compulsory 20 D-ranks, then you'll be off probation and we'll be able get started on C-ranks."

"Then what are we sitting around for? Let's go!" the blonde exclaimed excitedly "Last one there is a rotten egg!" Swatting Sasuke at the back of his head, she dashed ahead of her group for the mission lobby, followed closely by an irritated Sasuke.

"Ne sensei, I didn't know there's a 20 D-ranks requirement before you can start C-ranks before. Is that true?" Sakura enquired while shaking her head at the boys antics.

"Not really." Kakashi replied without missing a beat.

"Ah, I see." Sakura mumbled in disappointment as she sweat dropped.

"Though, I don't see why not. It usually take a Genin team 2 weeks to finish up that many D-ranks and it'll be a good reason for admin to approve a C-rank."

"Why, Sakura. Getting tired of D-ranks already?" Kakashi asked mirthfully. "If that's the case, then race you to the tower. Rotten-egg-san!" The Copy-nin added the last part before disappearing in a Shunshin.

"That's not fair!" Sakura wailed after it took her brain a good half-second to process what happened.

* * *

**Naruto's Apartment**

**8:38 p.m.**

_Anyway, we managed to complete our 12__th__ D-rank today. 8 more to go and Kakashi would have to make good on his promise. Well he didn't exactly promise, but hey, I'm sure he's sick of being cheap labour. I know I am. Besides, I can't wait to get out of the village! I sure hope our first C-rank will take us far enough away from Konoha. I can't wait!"_

Naruto smiled as she re-reads her journal entry carefully before correcting some mistakes. Satisfied, she carefully stuffed the journal inside a hidden compartment in her Gama plushy.

Stifling back a tired yawn, she turned off her desk lamp and crawled into bed. It didn't take long until her head was filled with dreams of foxes, ramen and adventures!

.

.

.

* * *

***A/N: This is my attempt at trying something new. Not sure how it'll be received. Also with the length, some people might consider it a stub. Regardless, wish you've enjoyed it. Also, as mentioned on my profile, this may be the last update for a while. Hopefully not.**


	9. Chapter 8

**26****th**** October**

**8:10 a.m.**

**Streets of Konoha**

"Naruto! Wait up, Naruto!" Sakura called out in frustration while shielding her eyes from the heavy rain as she tried to keep up with her teammate.

"C-rank~ C-rank~ It's a Cow with a Ceeeheeheee!" the blonde sang happily as she ran ahead of her teammate, completely oblivious to the pelting rain.

_He's completely mental! _Sakura thought as she wiped the water off her face. "Tch, Naruto! Not everyone wears a waterproof jacket or a goggle all the time you know!" Sakura complained as she cursed herself for not having thought of dressing sensibly for the weather. Something that Baka Naruto obviously thought of.

The blonde finally did pause and turn around, fiddling with her Hitai-ate that she opted to wear around her neck today, "Then you've only yourself to blame. Oh come on, after all the flak you've been giving me for being "late", you're asking me to slow down today of all days? We're getting our first C-rank for crying out loud!"

"Y-yes, I know but that's beside the point! Kakashi-sensei might not even be there yet! And b-besides, how am I supposed to face Sasuke when I'm soaked to the skin?!" Sakura asked as she started shivering a little from the cold.

Naruto rolled her eyes in annoyance before inspiration struck. Grinning slyly, she moved behind Sakura and clapped her gently on the shoulders. "Well I'd say it's a blessing! Think about it, Sasuke always ignores you, but now that you're all 'soaked to the skin' it actually adds to your appeal."

"I mean you being all wet, clothing plastered to your skin… leaving little to the imagination, maybe he just might…" Naruto sighed theatrically as she twirled her fingers dramatically. Her grinned widened at Sakura's reddening face as she let her fantasy run wild.

"Besides." She added waggling her eyebrows while her eyes darted down to Sakura's chest a little, making sure the other girl noticed. "Somebody's happy."

"NARUTO BAKA!" Sakura screeched as she swung clumsily with one fist while covering herself with her other hand.

Laughing gaily, Naruto deftly dodged the expected punch and started bolting towards the mission lobby at full speed, Sakura hot at her heels. _Another mission accomplished. _She thought smugly to herself as they reached the mission lobby in record time.

* * *

**8:13 a.m.**

**Konoha Mission Lobby**

The doors to the Shinobi side of the mission lobby burst open, admitting a laughing Naruto and a panting Sakura, still hot in pursuit.

Ignoring the disapproving glare from most Shinobi and more than a few amused ones, Naruto spied Sasuke brooding at his usual corner and hurried over to her teammate.

"Ohayo, Sasuke!"

"Hn."

"Ah, Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura stammered out and forcing herself to smile, while glaring at Naruto who was making faces at her from behind Sasuke. Her eyes widened in shock however, when Naruto subtly pointed towards her chest. She immediately crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. _**I'll KILL THAT BASTARD!**_

"Ne! Ne! Sasuke, you ready for our first C-rank?!" Naruto asked excitedly.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his teammate before looking back and forth between the two of them. Noting carefully Sakura's flustered appearance and Naruto's unusual close proximity to himself.

Getting a rough idea at what the deceptively manipulative blonde was trying to achieve, he suppressed a smirk, shrugged and grunted. _Get yourself out of your own fix._

"Oh come on! You gotta be more excited than that! We're the first team of our year to get our C-rank!"

The Uchiha could barely contain his smirk at the barest hint of desperation coming from Naruto's voice as he realised the more he looked at Sakura, the more agitated she seemed to get.

"Ah, there you guys are. Come on then. No more slacking, there's work to be done. It's time to hit the mission office." A familiar voice distracted them from their conversation.

The trio of Genin stared in surprise at their Jōnin-sensei.

"What?"

Naruto was the first to speak after a few seconds of stupefied silence. "Wow sensei, you're actually early for once. Did somebody die or something?" She asked carefully.

"Maa… Naruto, you shouldn't say such inauspicious things. It's bad luck." Kakashi replied with a small smile and ushered his team into the office before turning the placard on the door from green to red.

"Team 7, reporting in for duty."

"Ah, Kakashi. Good to see you and your team here."

"Jiji!" Naruto greeted in surprise.

"And hello to you too, Naruto." the Hokage replied with smile. "I see you're all here for your first C-rank mission."

Frowning, Naruto asked tentatively, "Is everything alright? Kakashi-sensei is unusually early today and you're down here instead of back in your office."

Smiling, the old man raised a hand reassuringly, "Everything is fine, Naruto. Just that the recent heavy rainfall has brought up some concerns which they deem might warrant my interest."

Fishing up a scroll, Hiruzen handed it over to Kakashi. "I think this would be appropriate for a C-rank?"

The Copy-nin perused through the scroll, nodding his consent. "I suppose this will do". Nodding at the Chūnin guard, he opened the door to admit their client.

A young, but slightly disheveled man in his late twenties walked in, holding a few large tubes of scrolls. He appeared a little sleep deprived, though that did little to diminish his sharp brown eyes, taking in the occupants in the room.

Upon seeing the Hokage, the man's face broke into a smile of relief.

"Ah, Hokage-sama. I'm glad you decided to see me on such short notice."

"This is Akita Tessai. He's a hydraulics engineer in charge of Konoha's vast sewage system. A very important job I assure you all. And this is Team 7, they consist of some of Konoha's finest young graduates."

"Ah, you flatter me Hokage-sama. Hajimemashite." Tessai greeted, lifting his safety hat, revealing a mop of messy brown hair.

"Domo!"

Nodding his head at the team as he appraised them, he commented, "Well, not quite what I expected but at least one of them appears to fulfill my requirement for this task." While his gaze lingered on Naruto for a moment.

"I assure you that they're all perfect for the mission." Kakashi interjected.

"Can we know what our mission is yet?" Naruto asked uneasily after having being singled out by the client.

"Of course. If you'll please, Tessai-san." Hiruzen gestured at Tessai to begin.

Beckoning to the Genin teams, Tessai unfurled one of his scrolls, detailing the Map of Konoha.

"Due to heavier than usual rainfall this monsoon season, there had been some minor flooding upstream. Usually it wouldn't concern us much but last night, the debris trap…" he pointed to several locations on the map

"…here, here and here had failed due to presence of larger than normal debris from the storm and a large amount of coarse debris had been introduced into the system. If left unchecked, it might cause major flooding. That usually doesn't happen, but then again, some of those traps are as old as Konoha itself and are way overdue for renewal."

"I see, but how does that concern us?" Sakura asked.

"Under normal conditions, we would send some people to go in and clear them out to serviceable levels. Though, some parts of the sewer were so badly blocked we needed someone to help unstuck it out from the inside…"

"That's where I come into the picture I guess…" Naruto mumbled. _Sigh, so much for a cool mission in a faraway land._

"Hai, but unfortunately, we're also heavily understaffed at the moment. The others are helping with the flood mitigation further upstream. I've been working overtime finding out where possible blockages might occur, so it would be helpful if one of you are actually academically inclined enough to help speed up the process."

The three Genin exchanged looks before shrugging.

"Sure I guess."

"We can do that."

"Hn."

"Though, not to be annoying or anything. It doesn't sound much like a C-rank to me." Naruto offered skeptically.

"Well, you would be entering a sewer system during a flood alert. Usually we wouldn't even consider sending people in at this point. We just patch up the debris trap and hope that's enough or just let it flood and deal with the cleanup later."

"Worst case, you could be trapped down there and drown. But due to concerns…" Tessai pointed out while giving the Hokage an uncomfortable look.

"Maa, that's alright Tessai-san. Since you've mentioned the risks clearly on your brief. We should be fine as long as we coordinate this smartly and I have my Ninken to track them down quickly if things do go wrong." Kakashi assuaged.

"That's everything for now I guess. We should hurry to the site. The longer we wait, the higher the chances of flooding." Tessai commented as he looked out of the window where it's still pouring.

* * *

**8:53 a.m.**

**Eastern Sewer Entrance**

They arrived at the sewer entrance where the Genin quickly set up tent for Tessai. It was agreed that Sakura would stay behind to help while Naruto and Sasuke would be handling the manual stuff with Kakashi on standby.

After going over the sewer plan details, Tessai had pointed out where he knew some blockages to be and would occur as well as advising them to resurface every hour to receive an update.

They were both handed some flares and a radio set from Kakashi.

"These should allow us for some easy communication, although I don't know how well they'll work down there. It's very likely that you'll lose signal, but don't worry. The flares should leave enough scent for my Ninken to track and they continue to burn even underwater."

"These are very good quality low smoke, slow burning flares that lasts roughly half an hour. Tessai has generously supplied us with a lot of them so just keep one lit right when you head in and when it goes out, you know it's time to start heading out. So if you're not out by an hour and if we get no contact from you guys, I'll be going in to find you guys. Naruto, take point."

"Understood." Both Genin replied.

Peering over the dark opening, Naruto lit one of the flares and dropped it right in, counting the number of seconds before it hits the ground. It took less than a second.

"Woe is the unsung valours of the sewer rats of Konoha." She sang dryly. Causing Kakashi to chuckle. "Quaint. They don't sing that anymore."

Seeing that the brick-red flame of the flare illuminated no other obstacles, Naruto shrugged. "Here we go!" before ignoring the ladder rungs and jumping straight in.

After a second or two, they heard Naruto calling out.

"Oi, Sasuke! The water's just fine. Come on in!"

* * *

**Inside the Sewer**

Dropping into the sewer below, Naruto allowed her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, ignoring the cold, tepid water flowing around her feet. Wiggling her nose somewhat, she tried to ignore the pungent scent of rat excrement or worse. As her vision adjusted, she spied rats and other sewer denizens just scurrying out of her sight. _Oh_ _Joy._

A brief scan of the area showed no chakra signature worth worrying over, she decided to give Sasuke the all clear. Moving well away from the entrance towards higher and relatively drier ground, she called out with forced enthusiasm. "Oi, Sasuke! The water's just fine. Come on in!"

A second later, a loud splash announced Sasuke's arrival at Wonderland.

Both of them each lit one extra flare and had it clipped to their waist before holding it up high and started making their way towards the blockage, using the pipelines and long since faded signs on the walls to navigate.

As they got closer to the source, evidence of a blockage became clearer as the water level increased dramatically, spilling over the top of the foot deep cunette onto the side of the service path and the flow of water slowed significantly, creating small eddies in the process.

Stepping into a large chamber, they finally found the source of the blockage. A large wooden beam had found itself into the compartment and was stuck between the walls of a splitting barrel, causing other smaller debris to plug up most of the inlet.

"Well… let's get to work I guess." Naruto said after they spent a few seconds taking in the situation.

"How do you propose we go about it?" Sasuke asked as the idea of wading in waist deep turbid sewage didn't appeal to him, storm water or not.

Slapping her fist against her palm as a bout of inspiration hit, Naruto performed a Tiger seal and shot a Teppōdama at the beam, hoping to break it up enough to clear the blockage.

The result of firing the Suiton Jutsu so close to the target was spectacular. A large burst of water showered the whole chamber, covering both Genin in filthy waters.

While the Teppōdama did dislodge some of the smaller debris, the large wooden beam simply sunk a few feet deeper into the water before floating up again.

Glaring at his teammate, a dripping wet Sasuke blew out the water around his lips and growled. "Any more bright ideas?"

"Hehehe… Um, how about we break it up manually?" Naruto suggested while grinning sheepishly. "Hey, I tried!" she protested under the Uchiha's glare.

Sighing helplessly, Sasuke lowered himself down into the chamber and began wading towards the blockage. He frowned however, when Naruto simply walked across the surface of the water and started pulling aside the layer of junk that had surrounded the wooden beam.

"How are you doing that?"

Startled by her teammate's sudden question, Naruto stopped what she was doing and stared at Sasuke in puzzlement. "Doing what?" She asked innocently.

"That. Walking on water."

"Oh this?" Naruto replied as she briefly considered her teammate's question. "It's just like climbing trees I guess… except on water?"

It was Sasuke's turn to sound puzzled. "How is that even remotely similar to climbing trees?" he asked in a mixture of confusion with some measure of annoyance.

"Ugh, not in the conventional sense!" Naruto expressed as she ran her finger across her hair trying to explain the concept to Sasuke.

"Here, it'll be easier if I just show it to you."

Walking towards the nearest wall, Naruto started walking up the side of it. "I don't suppose I should describe it as climbing trees. It's pretty much just using your chakra to cling onto surfaces. Ya know… like all that stuff Iruka talked about during the leaf exercise bit in year 2."

"Takes a few days of practice, but once you get the hang of it, it's really pretty easy." She added as she looked down at her teammate from the soffit.

Sasuke frowned as he figured out how it might work. The concept seemed simple enough. Deciding to test it out, he sent some chakra to the bottom of his feet and tried to take a step on the surface.

The result was a small explosion of water, covering the Uchiha again from head to toe with water.

Naruto nearly fell off laughing.

"Damare." Sasuke grumbled in annoyance as he promptly moved on to clear the debris, ignoring his embarrassing performance.

Together, they worked mostly in companionable silence and managed to break the timber down into smaller pieces and slowly cleared out the debris, noting with satisfaction the water levels dropping drastically before moving on to the next leg of the system.

They were in the middle of clearing out the third blockage, which is mostly due to silt buildup because of the stagnated water when their flares ran out. Lighting a new set of flares, they quickly finish removing the silt before looking for the nearest exit.

* * *

**9:49 a.m.**

**Tessai's Camp**

It was still raining albeit slightly when the two Genin made their way back to the camp where they were bombarded with questions from Tessai, asking things from the type of debris to the level of excess afflux.

Armed with the field data, the busy man pretty much ran back into the tent to update his findings. Peeking in, they found Sakura busy helping Tessai out with his spreadsheets while Kakashi was enjoying his book.

"So, no incidents so far I hope?" Kakashi asked casually upon noticing the two wet Genin.

"Nope. Just plain old boring." Naruto replied.

"You should just appreciate boring while it lasts." The older ninja advised.

Sticking her tongue out at Kakashi, she rebuked. "Spoken like a true old man."

Several minutes later and with an update from Tessai, Naruto found herself back in the sewers again with Sasuke.

* * *

**3:16 p.m.**

**Tessai's Camp**

Sakura was digging through stacks of blueprints for Tessai, having gotten tired of all the math and knowing more about sewage than she wanted for the rest of her life. The man was smart, she gave him that, but he could do by being a lot more organized, she thought as she leafed through the untidy pile.

She didn't envy the boys though, having seen them during their lunch break, covered in gunk and smelling funny. Even her Sasuke-kun didn't look appealing then. _The things we do as ninja._

Sighing, she gathered up the armful of scrolls and brought it to Tessai.

"Ano, Tessai-san. Here are the plans." Leaving the plans on his desk, Sakura went to make herself some tea.

Looking up from his work, Tessai browsed through some of the plans and frowned. "These aren't the plans I asked for. Though, curiously enough... They do have the same numbers… Where did you get these from?" Getting the interest of a bored Kakashi.

"Well, they're dated way back during Nidaime's reign. They're probably blueprints for the old sewer that got shut off during the war."

"Ah, sorry. I might have gotten them mixed up with the pile." Sakura winced at her rookie mistake and apologised. "I'll go look again."

"No, that's quite alright. In fact, this is great! They used to build giant reservoirs of a system back then just so the water could double as emergency supply. If we can link the system back together, then there should be no worry of floods at all and we can call it a day!"

* * *

**Deep Inside the Sewers**

The mission was fast becoming uncomfortable as the rain started to pick up again. The sewers had become harder to navigate as both water level and flow increased.

Naruto could tell Sasuke was fast getting tired wading through the ice-cold water. Although he never once complained, it showed in his movements.

_This is not good._ Naruto thought. They still had several blocks to clear. Annoyingly, some of the debris they dislodged upstream tend to get stuck again later on so they ended up having to cut through almost the entire length of the sewers.

She decided to strike up a conversation with Sasuke to help pass the time.

"Ne, Sasuke. You getting hungry yet? Cause I know I sure am."

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer when his stomach, being more honest, made the first complaint of the day.

They were both saved from the awkward moment when their radio crackled.

"Eto, Naruto-san? Sasuke-san? Hello? Can you hear me? Over." came Tessai's voice through the static.

"Hai, something up? Over." Naruto replied after fumbling to find the switch to her headset.

"Ah, good! Can you tell me where you guys are? Over."

Scrunching her face in concentration Naruto recalled the path they had taken. "We should be right after the second left turn from the E26 section. Why?"

There was a momentary pause before they heard the crack of static again.

"That's good news! Actually Sakura-san stumbled upon some old blueprint of the disused sewers from the 2nd Shinobi War. According to the blueprint, it should be close to where you guys are, back down the second left from E23. If you can find it and open the sluice gates, it should allow storm waters to drain into the much bigger system."

"If you two can get both system connected, according to the blueprint, it should be big enough to serve as a sink for all the excess water, then we can call it a day and get some much needed rest and relaxation. Over!"

Grinning, Naruto turned to her teammate. "Well, you heard the man! Let's go!" As she dashed back the way they came. Sighing deeply, Sasuke trudged along behind, vowing to master the arts of water walking once they're done with this. _Maybe Kaa-san will give me some pointers._

* * *

**4:22 p.m.**

**Tessai's Camp**

Licking his finger through his mask, Kakashi lazily flipped another page of his book. Trying to enjoy the story while at the same time, get this uneasy feeling that had been biting at him since Tessai made the call.

_Woe is the unsung valours of the sewer rats of Konoha._ Kakashi sang silently. The song had been stuck in his head since Naruto brought it up that morning.

_Wonder where that kid learned the tune._ He mused. It had been an old war song way before his time. One Minato-sensei and Jiraiya would sing at their campsite during the war. A song about the secret wars fought deep beneath the earth for years before what became known openly as the 2nd Shinobi War.

Then suddenly it clicked. _Sewer rats! Iwa! Kiri! The reason why Nidaime closed off those old sewers! _Snapping close his book, Kakashi cursed himself for missing out the obvious.

Grabbing his radio, he tried to reach his Genin. "Naruto?! Sasuke?! Can you hear me? Hello?!"

"Is everything alright, Kakashi-san?" Tessai enquired, alarmed at the Copy-nin's sudden reaction.

After failing to get his Genin on the radio again, Kakashi cursed. "I just remembered the reason why they closed off the old sewers."

"Before the 2nd Shinobi War, Iwa used to tunnel through to other hidden villages, launching surprise attacks at other countries. Most villages responded by establishing their own underground task force to counter the threat. It was all going in Iwa's favour until Kiri entered the war. They decided to not play by their rules. Instead they flooded the underground tunnels and filled them with lots of nasty creatures. Deciding that the tunnels were lost, Nidaime ordered to have most of them sealed. The old sewers used to be one such battle ground!"

Tessai's face paled as the implication dawned upon him. "I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"No, you wouldn't know. I didn't realise either until a few moments ago. Listen, I'm going in after them. I might be overreacting but if you don't hear from me in an hour, Sakura, you know the protocols."

Memorizing the blueprints, Kakashi hastily Shunshin to the nearest entrance of the old sewers.

* * *

**Earlier**

**Old Sewers**

Naruto and Sasuke gave each other a dubious look when they saw the amount of seals that cordoned off the closed door leading to the old sewers. Nothing really advanced but simple basic barriers to keep things out.

"Gee, paranoid much?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe it's just the way they do things in the old days."

Neither Genin seemed convinced but it was supposed to be an easy assignment. "Tessai did say that they were closed off during the 2nd Shinobi War." She offered.

Eager at the prospect of leaving the sewers early, both Genin decided to ignore their instincts and proceeded to gingerly peel off the seals.

Naruto had to plug her ears when Sasuke twisted open the rusted steel door as it protested with a metallic screech. Flakes of rust and dirt crumbled off the edge of the steel barrier and it groaned and protested every inch until it just wouldn't move anymore.

Lighting up another flare, Naruto cast it into the adjacent room before entering. A few steps into the dark and abandoned section of the sewers, Naruto felt the hair on the nape of her neck bristled. Pausing cautiously, she extended all her keen senses to check for anything unusual.

Finding nothing, she decided to write it up as an effect of the difference in surrounding, as it was a lot quieter in here, with only the constant eerie trickling of water and a cold draft flowing. She flashed her teammate the all-clear sign.

The Uchiha followed immediately. Glad to be out of the cold, knee-deep water for once as they moved onto the old suspended metal decking.

The two Genin treaded slowly and carefully along the walkway. Picking up scent of more metal and soot, Naruto called out, "Wait, I think I found something."

The smell came from the end corner of the walkway. Brushing away old cobwebs and dusts, they found what appears to be a huge machinery.

"It's a coal-fired generator. Uchiha made." Sasuke commented with a small hint of pride as he wiped away some dust, revealing a small plaque with his clan's faded red and white symbol next to the manufactured date.

"Does it even work?"

Sasuke shrugged as he inspected the pressure gauges and water levels. "Only one way to find out." As he pried open the rusted panel and dumped few buckets of old coal inside the furnace and breathed in a steady stream of flame while Naruto turned an old crankshaft to get the machinery started. A few minutes later, they heard the telltale hum of the flywheels and pistons coupled with the hiss of steam escaping from valves as the old generator stabilises and Naruto pulled the switch.

The two Genin had to shield their eyes as rows and rows of floodlights lit up the chamber. Once their eyes adjusted to the glaring brightness, the two Genin blinked in surprise at the sight that greeted them.

They were standing in a vast chamber easily 30 feet tall and five times that in depth and width. Numerous pipes and corridors lead into and out of the system, supported with massive pillars that seemed to be made out of some Doton Jutsu as the unusual shape each pillar has couldn't have been made with normal formwork.

"No wonder Tessai-san said that we could go home. This place is massive!" Naruto whistled appreciatively as she leaned over the railings to look at the chamber below, silently wondering how deep the chamber really went by observing the water markings left on the walls and comparing it to Jū's chamber.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as she stared down into the black surface of the water. For a moment, she thought she saw movement in the water but a second glance only showed mirror smooth surface, disproving her earlier suspicions. Shaking her head to clear the feeling of vertigo, she mentally pinched herself. _Get a grip on yourself, Naruto._

Sasuke merely grunted at his teammate stating the obvious while he scanned an old plan of the place for their objective. "There, the sluice gates." Sasuke said while tapping his finger on the faded out plaque to indicate their location and turning to leave. Noticing his teammate's odd behaviour he prompted "Everything okay?"

"Ah I was jus…" Naruto started but before she could finish, a loud grumble resounded through the chamber.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk and gave a knowing "Ah."

Naruto blinked in confusion before she realised what had happened. "Wha-? Wait, that wasn't me!" she protested indignantly, face flushing red.

"It's way too loud! Maybe the storm is getting worse or…" she cut herself off as she realised how weak of an excuse that must've sounded. An amused grunt was all she got.

_Great… but still, what the hell was that?_ Starting to feel uncertain herself. _Maybe I really need a good meal and some sleep after this._

Keeping the comments to herself, Naruto decided to let Sasuke take the lead for a change as she shifted role from scout to sentry, trying hard not to jump at every single drop of water and shadow cast by flickering lights or thinking about the reasons for seals on the door. _Too late now._

After climbing up and down a few flights of ladder rungs, corridors and tunnels later, they finally arrived at a platform overlooking the sluice gates with a series of valve wheels.

"So, give these a couple of twists and we're home free huh? Sounds easy enough."

"Hn."

The two Genin each grabbed hold of a wheel. Planting her foot firmly on the ground, Naruto was nearly thrown off balance when the surprisingly well-greased valve wheel turned easily, nearly bumping into the ornery Uchiha. A loud metallic groan resounded through the chamber and a thick jet of water started spewing out from the small opening of the gate. Quickly working through the rest of the valves, they soon had water gushing into the system at full bore.

Having done their bit, Naruto tried unsuccessfully to get into contact with Tessai via the radio before shrugging at the impatient looking Uchiha. "Oh well, lets get out of here. Don't know about you, but I can't wait to get home to a hot shower!" Getting only a grunt in reply from her ever-chatty teammate.

They made their way back the first few corridors in awkward silence until Sasuke tentatively broke the silence. "Ne, Naruto. I was wondering…" The Uchiha started hesitantly, causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow at her usually broody teammate.

"Well it's actually more of my…"

A loud grumble much like the other two resounded in the chamber they're in. The only warning Naruto had was the hair on the back of her neck rising and the look of shock and surprise on Sasuke's face before throwing herself into a back flip.

As she spun around in midair, she managed to catch sight of the largest specimen of crocodile she had ever seen. It was easily over three grown men in length, surging up from the water and lunging through where she was standing just moment earlier. Looking up, she noted that Sasuke had dived sideways to safety and instinctively launching kunai and shuriken which bounced off the giant crock's thick hide as it crashed through the railings on the other side of the steel platform and back into the murky waters.

Naruto winced as the railings she landed on creaked and groaned in protest under her less than gentle landing before a rusted section of metal gave and broke off, sending her toppling into the bone chilling depths.

* * *

Sasuke was about to scowl in annoyance when the rude rumble interrupted his sentence before changing to shock and surprise when accompanying it was the largest crocodile he had ever laid his eyes upon lunging out from behind his teammate.

Before he even had a chance to shout out a warning, the nimble blonde had already launched himself into a well-executed back flip. Everything slowed to a crawl as he reflexively dived to the side and pulled out a few Kunai and Shuriken at the beast. Unfortunately, it did little other than glancing off the beast's thick hide before it crashed back into the water, bringing a good chunk of the railing with it.

Hearing a groan of metal behind him, he spun around just in time to see in perfect slow motion, Naruto plunging into the water as the old railing gave way.

"Naruto!" He yelled out before cursing at his body's seemingly slow reaction as the giant croc dragged his teammate down into the murky depths.

Glaring at the blackish water as if somehow his gaze might penetrate the mirroring surface, he searched for signs of his fallen teammate.

* * *

Naruto barely had time to surface for breath when the scaled monstrosity lunged again, trying snap off her upper torso. Fortunately, she managed to duck between the collapsed railings although the metal groaned underneath the muscular jaws of the beast. Frustrated, the killer croc pulled her with the railings under water before going into a spin.

Trying to keep her breath in, Naruto struggled to free herself from the tangled mess of metal that was the railings. Curling herself into a tighter ball, she managed to regain some balance and sneak a Kunai into her hand before shoving it down the throat of the reptile, gouging at the throat plate inside, forcing the creature to let go of the rail. Finally free of the dizzying spin, Naruto freed herself quickly from the mangled scrap metal and kicked desperately upwards, gasping for air as she surfaced. Clambering onto the side of the platform, she found herself being hoisted up by Sasuke before running down the side of the corridor as fast as they could.

Finally finding her breath again, Naruto yelled, "What the hell is that thing doing down here?!"

"Don't Know! Don't Care! Shut up! Run!"

Not wanting to argue with her teammate's eloquent logic, she shut up and followed suit.

"There are more of those things?!" Naruto cried out in dismay and incredulity as they found their way barred by a few more of the giant crocs, each as large if not bigger than the last.

Instead of replying, Sasuke's hands flowed with practiced ease, performing the required seals for a Gōkakyū and spitting a massive fireball down the passage. The blast collided with the reptiles but other than the hiss of steam, did not even seem to faze them. If anything it seemed to enraged them more.

Moving faster than either Genin anticipated, one of the crocs charged and leaped in their direction. Naruto managed to fire off a Teppōdama herself that barely slowed the creature. Ducking underneath the beast by dropping onto her back, she swiped at the reptile's underbelly with a Kunai, which failed to even scratch the creature's hide as it sailed past her and back into the water.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" she exclaimed, suddenly wishing that she actually had affinity for lightning Jutsu while checking her pouch for something that might actually work.

"Naruto! Clones! Distract them!" a determined Sasuke ordered as he started expertly threaded wires through his Kunai and throwing them around support columns and pipings, forming an intricate mesh of steel web.

Having nothing better up her sleeve, Naruto obliged by forming a few clones while she herself looked around for the nearest exit. Wincing as one by one, her clones got ripped into shreds by the crocs, she managed to map a path towards a half-opened hatch on the other side of the chamber.

* * *

With expert precision, Sasuke managed to set up a tight weave of ninja wires as he tried not to let his teammate's cries of anguish distract him. As the reptiles wiped out the last of the Naruto clones, Sasuke held onto his Kunai with numerous cables strung through the ringed pommel as he glared at the giant crocs, daring them to attack. As predicted, the crocs lunged and he released the kunai, causing the tensed strands of wire to open up into a net and ensnaring the crocodiles in mid-air. _Gotcha!_

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!"

He smirked in satisfaction as the flames travelled down the cable and seared the trashing reptiles. His satisfaction though was short lived as the pipings that he anchored his wires to started groaning from the strain of the trashing reptiles.

"That's all good and all that you got them Sasuke, but no time to celebrate! Exit on first left then third right" Naruto ushered just as a pipe gave way and crashed onto the decking, causing the whole section to collapse.

Regaining his balance, Sasuke turned to assist his teammate only to see the blonde busy forming a chain of clones to hold the deck up. "Go!" Nodding a brief thanks while silently impressed at his teammate's chakra capacity, Sasuke dashed down the corridor towards the exit.

Reaching the portal, he was just in time to see Naruto sprinting across the surface of the water with the freed crocs hot on his tail before he rolled past the hatch, which he slammed shut immediately after the blonde. A few solid thunks later, all was quiet.

The two Genin shared a short hysterical laugh before sliding down onto the wet floor with their backs on the door.

After catching her breath, Naruto turned to regard her teammate before noticing something.

"Ne, Sasuke. Your eyes look funny."

It took Sasuke a few seconds to register what Naruto meant as he realised that he read his teammates lips before the sentence even left his mouth. _Sharingan! I've finally unlocked the Sharingan. _It took all his self-discipline to not grin like an idiot or ask Naruto how many tomoe was there in his eyes. Instead all he said was "Hn." with a rather comical lopsided smirk.

Raising an eyebrow at her teammate, Naruto mentally shrugged. "Just thought you'd want to know." Before reaching for her radio.

"Ne, Kakashi-Sensei? Tessai-san? Sakura-chan? Anyone?" Sighing as nothing but static greeted her.

"So, what should we… Sasuke!" Naruto cried out in alarm when she noticed her teammate was no longer standing next to her and was instead lying near what looked like a giant anemone with tentacles wrapping around his torso. Scowling as she felt a brief sense of vertigo washing past her. "Poison! Just great!" she spat, silently grateful for the enhanced constitution from Jū-nee.

Hurrying over to Sasuke, she unsheathed a Kwaiken that Jū insisted she carry on her person at all times and sliced at the creature and its offending appendages. Satisfied with the completely mutilated carcass of the creature, she carefully scraped the appendages off Sasuke with her blade before sealing them off in a scroll and checked his vitals. Oddly enough, other than being unresponsive, an increased pulse and his weird eyes appeared to be spinning like crazy, she couldn't find anything else wrong with him.

Naruto growled in frustration as she considered her options. It was already way past their hourly limit, which means Kakashi should be mounting a search for them by now. Unfortunately, staying put and waiting for Kakashi was out of the question. Who knows what other nasties are out there? Then there's the poison in Sasuke's system. It doesn't seem bad now, but who knows if his condition may recover or worsen given time. Then of course, there's the floodwater that will begin filling up the place soon. Sighing in defeat, she hoisted her teammate up over her shoulders and tried to deduce which branch to take from memory and trudged tiredly down the tunnel.

* * *

Dispatching the last of the reptilian annoyances with his Raiton enforced Kunai, Kakashi hurried down along the corridor his Ninken had scouted out ahead of him. Following his nose, he caught sight of Pakkun and the others up ahead.

"Looks like they're not faring too badly." The pug commented as they were greeted to the sight of a partially collapsed decking with corpses of several badly charred crocodiles floating near the midst of the wreckage.

"Their scent is still quite strong in here so they can't be too far."

Surveying the multiple exits from the chamber, the seasoned Jōnin was unfazed as he gave the order for the Ninken to spread out.

* * *

Naruto didn't make it far down the passage when the stench of rats assailed her nose and sharp squeaks echoed off the wall and surely enough, horde of the furry denizens surged past her followed by a dull roar in the back ground.

"Oh, this is so not happening!" She groaned and started running down the tunnels as fast as her tired feet would carry her as the roar grew in volume. Turning the corner, her prospects brightened as she recognised the telltale glare of the floodlights from the main chamber up ahead. Unfortunately, she can now hear the dull roar of water surging from the tunnels behind her.

Pushing extra chakra to her legs, she threw all she had into running. Sliding the last few feet, she managed to reach the end of the concrete pipe and dropped both herself and Sasuke straight down onto a soft layer of sediment which had piled up after the years, and sliding to the bottom before a surge of water blasted out from the opening above her, washing out rats, filths and even some of those giant crocs.

All throughout the chamber, similar pipes started roaring like angry dragons as they spat out massive volume of water. It did not take long until the island of sediment Naruto was resting on began to shrink and the mutant crocs, sensing food, began to converge on her position.

Gritting her teeth, Naruto lay Sasuke down and reached into her pouch for her blast tags and Kunai before a large flat oval mouth that dwarfed even the giant crocs rose up from the depth and gulped down the would-be predators.

Amazingly, she managed to stay afloat the surface when the large wave of water displaced by the creature washed her off the island as she gaped at the sight of the head of the behemoth, which looked like a cross between a slug and a frog with feathery gills on the side of its flat ovoid head perched atop a very long neck.

Naruto winced as globs of slime splattered against the chamber wall as the creature blew off the filth covering what appears to be its nose. "Geez, I can really use a bit of boring right about now. Ne, Nee-chan, I don't suppose you can get angry at me if I die to this… thingy." She whimpered while clutching onto her Kunai tightly.

"Kakashi, over there!"

"Raikiri!"

Naruto stared in a daze as she watched the sparkling form of her Sensei slammed into the side of the creature's gills causing it to writhe in pain and crashing against the side of the chamber before retreating back into the depths to nurse its wound.

"C'mon Naruto! Get moving!" Pakkun's voice prodded her back into reality as she find the small pug tugging at her trousers.

"Ah, Sasuke!" Naruto cried out, grabbing at her hair upon remembering her teammate and cursed herself for her carelessness.

"Akino and Buru are seeing to that. We need to get out of here before that thing decides to come back."

Spotting the two sturdy Ninken picking up her unconscious teammate, Naruto didn't need much more encouragement and made a mad dash for the exit.

"What's wrong with him, Naruto?" A mildly concerned Kakashi asked after they finally passed back through the rusted door to the old section as he examined Sasuke.

"I dunno, poison of some sort. I got the sample from the creature here, though I'm not sure if it helps. His eyes has been funny before he was poisoned though."

"Ah, that would be his Kekkei Genkai activating. No other injuries?"

"No. We tried to contact you guys after turning the gates on, but the radio was dud down there, then there were these crocodiles…"

"Maa, you did well Naruto." Patting the young kunoichi on the head. "Both of you did considering what was down there. I should have realised the threat sooner."

"Like you're ever early." A raspy voice startled the two of them as Sasuke sat up rubbing temple, causing Naruto to chortle out in laughter while Kakashi protested half-heartedly. "I am when it counts!"

"That was unpleasant." The Uchiha muttered to himself as he tried to shake off the effects of the poison. "What happened? Last thing I remembered was unlocking the Sharingan and then there was all this multi-coloured light and I was…" as he struggled to find the appropriate words "…all over the place."

Shrugging Naruto briefly related his misadventure with the anemone like creature. "One moment I was on the radio and the next thing I know, Bam! Sasuke was on the ground making out with this Anemone thingy."

Sasuke tried to glare at his teammate, but the effort caused him a bad headache. He was, however, puzzled when Naruto tossed him a scroll. "What's this?"

"A piece of your sweetheart to remember by, lover boy." Naruto couldn't resist teasing while mimicking some kissing noises.

Sasuke groaned before slowly getting back on his feet, too tired and miserable to muster the energy needed to be angry at his teammate. "Can we just get out of here?"

* * *

**5:01 p.m.**

**Tessai's Camp**

A near hysterical Sakura and a mildly amused Hiruzen greeted them as they returned to camp. Tessai kept giving them guilty looks when the team of Chūnin and a Jōnin surrounding him were not pestering him with questions.

They spent the next fifteen minutes debriefing before a medic-nin whom Sasuke swears appeared out of nowhere, dragged him off to the side for a quick check-up.

"Well I guess congratulations is in order."

"Congratulations, Hokage-sama?" a confused Sakura inquired.

"In light of recent events, I think it is only appropriate that the mission be upgraded to an A-rank. Of course, that means your pay too shall be adjusted accordingly."

"Woohoo! Awesome, Jiji! I can't wait to rub it in Kiba's face!" as she does a small victory dance.

Finally escaping the clutches of the medic-nin, Sasuke stared at his teammate in disbelief. "Where does he get all that energy from?"

Chuckling, Kakashi added "Maa, since you've just completed your first ever A-rank, I suggest that you lot take tomorrow off to relax a little."

"Ah, um well I'd like to invite the team for dinner at my place tomorrow. Mother would very much like to meet the team." Sasuke gritted out and flinched as Sakura gave an excited squeal. "Of course, Sasuke-kun!"

"That's a great idea, Sasuke-kun. We should have team outings like this more often." Kakashi chimed in while Naruto scoffed and muttered under her breath "If you actually bother to show up." Before adding "Sure, I guess. Now if we're all excused. I'd like a nice long shower, good food and my bed."

* * *

**8:13 p.m.**

**Naruto's Apartment**

_So there, Nee-chan. Another reason why you need to wake up soon. I mean what will I do if I run into something like that again and Kakashi-Sensei wasn't there to help? –Love, Naruto_

Putting her pen down after finishing her entry, she stuffed the dairy into her Gama plushy before yawning from the extra large serving of miso ramen and nice hot shower, which the faulty heater miraculously did not die out on her for once.

She was about to turn in to bed when a messenger bird flew in through her window and deposited a note before hopping back by the windowsill and waiting expectantly. Picking it up, it reads.

_To Uzumaki Naruto,_

_Mother is excited to meet the team. If its not too much trouble, will you be fine if it was lunch instead of dinner? Please reply as soon as possible._

_Uchiha Sasuke_

"Oh well… I guess there goes sleeping in for tomorrow."

* * *

**27****th**** October**

**12:10 p.m.**

**Uchiha District**

"Ne, do you think the flowers are good enough? Should I have gotten more?" Sakura fretted as they made their way through much of the deserted district while Naruto tried her best to suppress a groan. "Perhaps I should have gone to Ino's after all. They have the best flowers!"

"Ma, I'm sure Mikoto will appreciate the sentiment all the same, no matter what the gift is." Kakashi replied after the umpteenth time Sakura questioned her choice of gift.

Interestingly enough, Kakashi had decided to show up early today and met up with them on their way to Sasuke's. Though, Naruto wasn't quite sure that was a good thing as the Jōnin had showed up with a rather large and expensive looking fruit basket, which in turn made Sakura constantly doubt her choice of gift.

"Ne, Naruto-kun. What did you bring them?"

_A chastity belt for Sasuke. Heaven knows he needs one after recent events _was what she wanted to say but instead she managed to keep a civil tone although she can't promise it wasn't dripping with sarcasm. "Well that'll be for me to know and Mikoto Obasan to find out." Before curtly dismissing an embarrassed Sakura and storming ahead.

Personally, she was both a little anxious and tentative about meeting Mikoto. From what she managed to gather, Mikoto was an old friend of her mother's. While she may have heard much about her father from Kakashi and Jiji, she hasn't had the chance to learn much about her mother yet and Mikoto may be an opportunity for her to do so.

But given her Jinchūriki status, there was no telling as to how she might react to Naruto. And then there is Fugaku. She wasn't sure what to make of the man. She vaguely remembered encountering him once when the villagers were harassing her. Although he had not hesitated to put a stop to them, he had given her a cold glare after they crowd had dispersed.

Her sullen sigh did not escape the notice of her Jōnin Sensei who placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, she would not have invited you if she doesn't like you." While making sure they're out of earshot. "Besides, I'll be there."

Giving her Sensei a grateful smile, they slowed their pace for Sakura to catch up. "Eto, Gomen, Sakura-chan. I was a little… antsy."

"Ah, no! I really should be the one apologising I mean. Going on about the appropriateness of my gift when you're…" Sakura cringed again at her choice of words. "Ah that's not what I meant!"

"You can just say it you know." Naruto chuckled. Bemused by her teammate's clumsy apology. "Stating the truth or otherwise doesn't change reality. I won't get mad at you for doing so, but you really should lighten up and stop double guessing your choices."

Their conversation was cut short however as Kakashi announced "Looks like we're here." As they stopped in front of what appeared to be the only lived-in house in the area, while Kakashi called out, "Ojamashimasu!"

They waited for a few seconds before the shōji slid open as Mikoto greeted them, her eyes sweeping over them before giving each of them a warm smile.

"Irasshai! Please, come in!"

Feeling only genuine warmth in her smile, Naruto's felt the tension she didn't realised left her as she passed her small fist-sized wrapped package over to Mikoto along with everyone else's.

"Oh, thank you! There's really no need! And the flowers are nice, Sakura-chan is it?" As Mikoto stepped aside, arms cradling the gifts.

Removing their shoes, the team was ushered into the dining room where Sasuke was seated before an elaborate feast while Mikoto set aside the flowers and gifts aside.

"Please, help yourselves." She invited as they proceeded to dig in while engaging in the occasional small talk.

"I'm glad you can all make it today. I wasn't quite sure when we had to change the time, but I… it was the best possible time for us." Mikoto said with a strained smile.

"No troubles at all, Mikoto-Senpai! Thanks for having us over. Though I'm surprised, is Fugaku-sama not in? I was of the opinion that he is retired?" Kakashi inquired in between sneaking food under his mask.

"Ah, well… that I…"

"Ne, Sensei. Will you be able to teach me in using my Sharingan soon?" Sasuke hastily interjected.

"Of course, when we have spare time in the future." Kakashi replied with a slight frown.

"Ne, Mikoto-obasan, your cooking is really top notch!" Naruto gushed as she wolfed the last of her food down eagerly while ignoring Sakura's disapproving glare.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoy it, Naruto. Seconds?" Mikoto asked, grateful to have the conversation sidetracked for the moment as she shovel more food down Naruto's plate.

"It's a shame that you never got to try your mother's cooking. I doubt you'll be enjoying much of mine if you had. Her cooking really was the best. If I didn't know better, I'd say your father married her for her cooking alone." Mikoto giggled mirthfully, reminiscing about time long past.

Surprised at the chance, Naruto struggled to swallow the food before she was interrupted by the sound of shōji screen slamming shut. She tensed as the familiar odour of alcohol assailed her nose - a smell she had come to dislike with passion, before turning around to see a drunken man by the door.

There was a pregnant silence at the table as the atmosphere turned sour almost instantly.

"What is this?" the man drawled as he took in the scene before him.

Flushing red in embarrassment, Mikoto slowly answered, "A…ano we're just having a small celebration for Sasuke's team and their completion of their first A-rank mission."

The tension in the room was palpable as Fugaku gave a dry and humourless laugh. "Celebration for a C-rank! Just obtaining his Sharingan and suddenly he thinks he's got it all! What have this clan turned into indeed when we started celebrating every single successful mission" he spat.

Shocked at the development, Sakura cast a furtive glance at the other two Uchiha in the room. Mikoto had her head lowered, expression unreadable while Sasuke looked almost livid at his father.

Taking a calming breath, Mikoto countered, "Sasuke is not…"

"Sasuke nothing! Really, I don't even know why I bothered fathering a second child… and what's this rag-tag team of his? A worthless gold digger and the village pariah?"

***Slam!***

"You may insult me, but leave my teammates out of it, Father!" Sasuke spat out the last word as he slammed his chopsticks back down on the table, startling everyone.

"They are guests and should be treated with respect. You may have forgotten your pride as an Uchiha, but I sure have not!"

The atmosphere at the table was so thick, Sakura thought she would drown when Fugaku suddenly started laughing in a hysterical manner. " Uchiha pride. Ha. Hahahaha. What do you know of pride? Hahahaha we would've done better without it. THIS IS WHERE PRIDE LEFT US! Barely a clan! Maybe you shou… Hrkhh!"

Fugaku never got to finish his sentence as he slumped onto the Tatami as Kakashi struck one of his Tenketsu. "Gomen, Fugaku-Senpai. You're drunk and sounded like you were about to say something you'll regret." As he watched the older man lose consciousness.

"Ne, Mikoto, why don't you and the team go outside somewhere and get to know each other better? I think I might do some catching up with Fugaku-Senpai for a bit you-know, a bit of man-to-man."

Grateful for the reprieve, Mikoto broke no arguments as she nodded thankfully, face still flushed from embarrassment as she ushered the Genin out of the house.

The group walked in awkward silence with the exception of Sasuke who was fuming and taking out his frustration at an empty beer bottle for a while until Mikoto broached the silence. "Ma, I apologise for my husband's behaviour. Whether or not he was drunk, there was no excuse for his behaviour." As she bowed deeply before Naruto and Sakura.

"You don't have to apologise for that man, mother." Sasuke gritted out as his last kick shattered the bottle against a nearby wall.

"Hai, hai, Mikoto-san. There's no need for apologies, we took no offense. Right Naruto?" Sakura stammered awkwardly, trying to get the woman before her to stop bowing as she elbowed her teammate.

"Eh? I've learnt long ago to ignore and avoid drunkards." Naruto said and shrugged nonchalantly. "Though, if Mikoto-baachan needs me to beat some sense into him, don't hesitate to let me know!" As she mocked punch a phantom figure in front of her as she tried to lighten the mood.

She was however, unprepared for the hug that followed, as Mikoto held her in a tight embrace. "Domo, Naruto-chan." Caught off guard, she patted the older woman gently in return.

Realising what she was doing, Mikoto let go of the younger girl as she wiped off some tears from her eyes. "Ah, look at me, the old sap. Enough of this negative atmosphere lets move on to something else shall we? So how're your training coming along? Having trouble with anything? I may have retired for a while but I was a Jōnin back in my day you know?"

"Ne, Kaa-san. Can you show us how to use chakra to cling onto surfaces and walking on water?"

"Oh, the Chakra control exercise? That seems a little advanced."

"But, Naruto-kun knows it, Mikoto-san. I wouldn't mind learning as well!"

"I suppose there's no harm in starting early. Let's go find a nearby park."

"Ano, why would we need a park, Mikoto-san. Wouldn't that wall suffice?"

"Ne, Naruto, why don't you explain it to your teammates, since you're familiar with the technique?"

Rolling her eyes, Naruto gave an exasperated sigh.

"Honestly, and you two are supposed to be the top of the year. Solid materials have a varying degree of limitation to the amount of chakra they can hold in them. Some things like chakra paper don't hold much at all and disintegrate instantly to any chakra applied, whereas specially crafted metals can absorb large amounts of chakra. So if you practice on concreted wall, you're obviously not going to achieve the same level of refinement as you do on a tree. It's all in part of Iruka's lecture in year 3. Sixth module if I'm not mistaken." As she added the last bit as an afterthought before finding her teammates staring at her.

"Well answered, Naruto-chan!" Mikoto beamed brightly and gave the embarrassed blond applause.

Arriving at the park, Mikoto picked out a pair of decent sized tree before explaining the basics to the other two Genin and a brief demonstration.

Unsurprisingly, Sakura managed on her first try before moving on to the water walking exercise with Mikoto while Sasuke seemed to grow more and more frustrated after a series of unsuccessful attempts at tree climbing.

"You're faltering." Naruto commented blandly as she lie lazily on the grass.

"Yeah! Well you're no help at all!"

"No, you're missing the point! Chakra is as much spiritual as it is physical. It is influenced by emotion. You can feel whatever you like, happy, sad or angry but you can't falter as it affects your control. Getting frustrated is a good way of losing control."

Scowling, Sasuke calmed his heart and sharpened his focus before going for another attempt. After a few tries, he grudgingly admit, the Dobe's advice worked.

"You truly are your parent's child, Naruto-chan." Mikoto said softly as she sat down next to Naruto, observing both Genin's progress. "Your father always had a gift with teaching."

Hearing that, Naruto couldn't help but feel a small measure of pride, before shyly asking, "Ano, can you tell me about my parents?"

* * *

It is with that, Kakashi found his team later that evening in a nearby park with Mikoto doing chakra control exercise with the exception of Naruto sitting by her side, seemingly enthralled by Mikoto's tale about her mother's exploits.

_Perhaps it wasn't such a bad day after all._

* * *

**12:10 a.m.**

**Uchiha Household**

Opening the small gift Naruto had left her, she smiled softly at the small jewelry box, holding a pair of small handcrafted earrings made of beads and strings resembling the Uzumaki clan symbol. Chuckling softly to herself, she placed the pair next to an identical but faded pair given to her a long time ago.

A sudden grunt and snoring startled her out of her reverie as she turned around to see her husband's still sleeping form. She had forgiven the man as he had begged sincerely enough for her forgiveness. Whatever Kakashi had said to the man seemed to have worked, although she frostily told him later, that he owed his own son and his guests an apology rather than her.

Sighing softly as she crawled into bed next to her husband, she steeled her resolve to talk to Hiruzen as soon as possible.

.

.

.

* * *

***A/N: Sorry for the extremely late post. I have no excuse whatsoever. I have to say this is my least favourite chapter so far. Let me know what you think.**


End file.
